Filter for what’s
in your water.

Not for safety. The network water meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and is sampled every month. People fit filters for taste, chloramine, scale or discolouration from old pipes, none of them a health emergency. Tank water is different. It is untreated, and a sediment filter with a UV steriliser is the minimum before it reaches a kitchen tap.

Mostly no. Standard activated carbon removes free chlorine but does little to chloramine, which Seqwater uses across the whole South East Queensland grid. A catalytic carbon cartridge sized for your flow rate does the job.

Only on the hot water feed, and only if scale bothers you. At roughly 80 to 115 mg/L, Ipswich water is moderately hard and well under the 200 mg/L guideline. A softener adds sodium and is wasted on cold taps. A scale inhibitor on the hot water system is usually enough.

Ask before you buy. The unit has to suit your water, flow rate and set-out, and the product warranty sits with the manufacturer. If it is the right unit, fitting it is straightforward.

An under-sink water filter in Ipswich usually costs $250 to $600 supplied and installed, with an Ipswich installer listing kitchen systems from $449, and reverse osmosis $650 to $1,500. A whole-house system runs $800 to $3,000, and a UV system for tank water $1,500 to $3,000 installed, from $1,999 with the same Ipswich installer. A water softener is $2,500 to $5,500 plus installation. Cartridges are an ongoing cost. These are indicative ranges, not quotes: the licensed plumber prices the system for your water and your set-out.