What do you actually measure?

Hardness in grains per gallon, iron, chlorine and pH, taken at your kitchen tap. Those four are what decide whether equipment is needed and how it has to be sized.

Is this a certified lab test?

No, and it is worth being clear about that. This is a field test for hardness and sizing, done on the spot. If you need a certified panel, bacteria and nitrates on a private well being the usual reason, that is a lab job and we will tell you to get one rather than pretend otherwise.

Why not just use my utility's published number?

Sometimes you can. But Greater Cincinnati Water Works runs two plants at 7.4 and 8.2 grains per gallon and does not publish which one feeds which street, seven towns here publish no figure at all, and Greene County and Harrison both cut their hardness by more than half in the last few years. A published average is a starting point, not your number.

Do you test well water?

Yes, for hardness and iron, which is what a well system gets sized against. For a full well workup including bacteria and nitrates, use a certified lab. The two tests answer different questions and you may want both.

Will you actually tell me I do not need anything?

Regularly, and it costs us the sale. Most of Greater Cincinnati sits between 7.3 and 8.2 grains per gallon, which is the bottom edge of hard. At that level a softener is a comfort and maintenance purchase, not a rescue, and if you are renting or moving inside two years it is not worth it.

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Diagnostic service

Water Testing by Honest Water Ohio in Loveland, OH

A published hardness figure is a system-wide average, and your line is not the system. Greater Cincinnati Water Works runs 7.4 grains per gallon at Miller and 8.2 at Bolton and does not publish which plant feeds which street. Seven towns in this service area publish no figure at all. And two counties changed their number underneath everybody: Greene went from 27 grains to 8 in early 2025, Harrison from 21 to 8 in 2022. Testing at your tap is how you find out what is actually arriving.

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What gets installed

Measured: Hardness, iron, chlorine, pH
Where: At your kitchen tap
Result: Same visit
Well sizing: Add ~4 gpg per 1 ppm iron

PricingGet a free quote

Lifetime Warranty

Free Installation

Family Owned & Local

NSF Certified

How it works

What water testing looks like, start to finish

We test at your tap, not off a chart

Hardness, iron, chlorine and pH, measured where the water actually comes out. Published figures are system-wide averages and an individual line can sit well off one, which is the gap that leaves a softener undersized.

We check it against what your utility publishes

If there is a published number we tell you what it is and how your reading compares. If your utility is one of the seven around here that publishes nothing, which includes Loveland itself, the test is the only number anybody has.

You get the reading, whatever it says

Including when it says you do not need anything. The Water Quality Association puts the line for hard water at 7 grains per gallon, and under that there is nothing to fix. We say so and leave.

It becomes the sizing figure, if you want equipment

A softener is sized against measured grains, not an average. On a well, iron counts too: the common rule adds about 4 grains per gallon of capacity for every 1 ppm of iron, so an untested well is a guess in both directions.

The equipment

The details

A free field test at your kitchen tap for hardness, iron, chlorine and pH, done before any equipment is discussed. It is the number that decides whether you need a system at all, and if you do, what size it has to be.

What you get

Hardness, iron, chlorine and pH
Measured at your kitchen tap
Compared against your utility's published report
Gives the sizing figure for any equipment
Free, with no obligation to buy anything

Free quote

Tell us about your water. We'll send a written quote.

Questions

Water Testing, answered

What do you actually measure?: Hardness in grains per gallon, iron, chlorine and pH, taken at your kitchen tap. Those four are what decide whether equipment is needed and how it has to be sized.
Is this a certified lab test?: No, and it is worth being clear about that. This is a field test for hardness and sizing, done on the spot. If you need a certified panel, bacteria and nitrates on a private well being the usual reason, that is a lab job and we will tell you to get one rather than pretend otherwise.
Why not just use my utility's published number?: Sometimes you can. But Greater Cincinnati Water Works runs two plants at 7.4 and 8.2 grains per gallon and does not publish which one feeds which street, seven towns here publish no figure at all, and Greene County and Harrison both cut their hardness by more than half in the last few years. A published average is a starting point, not your number.
Do you test well water?: Yes, for hardness and iron, which is what a well system gets sized against. For a full well workup including bacteria and nitrates, use a certified lab. The two tests answer different questions and you may want both.
Will you actually tell me I do not need anything?: Regularly, and it costs us the sale. Most of Greater Cincinnati sits between 7.3 and 8.2 grains per gallon, which is the bottom edge of hard. At that level a softener is a comfort and maintenance purchase, not a rescue, and if you are renting or moving inside two years it is not worth it.

Where we install

Our crew covers Greater Cincinnati, the Dayton metro, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. Every town has its own water, so each page carries the local utility, the published hardness and what it means for your house.