After getting quotes from 3 different companies, I felt very comfortable hiring Errol from Hill & Valley Water Systems to replace our old water treatment system. Errol was very professional and friendly, and had no problems spending lots of time looking at the existing system (well, treatment system, plumbing, etc.), identifying problems and performing accurate water tests to recommend only what was needed. He did a great job explaining to me what was needed, and answering my questions. When we originally purchased our home in 2011, it had an Ecowater water softener and iron/sulphur machine (which I would not recommend based on my experience). We always had water pressure issues in the home since we moved in and eventually the softener broke (this is what caused us to decide to replace the existing system. Errol immediately identified the cause as being the use of an air injector (old technology) severely restricting flow, poor plumbing, and a poorly installed sulphur/air remover. His prices were the best of the 3 quotes we received. His recommendation were also more accurate, he recognized we needed a 45 000 grain softener due to our hardness reading of 33, whereas all other companies just recommended a standard 30 000 grain softener. He explained how over time the appropriately sized system will save us money regarding the amount of salt needed. Since we were replacing our entire system he also gave us a great discount on a UV and RO system. He was very honest and said the RO system was more of a nice to have as our water only had 467 tds measured it was not required for acceptable drinking water. With my wife having polycystic kidney disease, and the recent addition of twins to our household I decided that it was worth it to get the UV and RO system. In previous water test we had some coliforms show up in our water over the years (sporadic and low amounts) but the UV lamp sterilization eliminates the need to worry about that causing issues for our young children.
So we ended up getting a softener 45 000 grain, and Iron/Sulpher/Manganese (self regenerating media), new pressure tank, UV lamp 40 Megajoules, and a 5-stage RO system.
He was able to schedule us for the week following the estimate, so that worked out well for us.
One thing I appreciated that he did, was as we talked during the estimate he made sure to write down what we discussed (adjusting pressure 50/70 psi for tank, pex conversion kit 3/4", brass ball valve, spray foam ,etc.). I found a lot of contractors make promises or comments in passing, but he made it a point to write it down and followed through with everything we discussed. He also provided a copy of the contract electronically so that was nice to have.
On the day of the install Errol was punctual and showed up a little earlier to give himself time to double check everything and unpack the units. Once everything was brought into basement he quickly disconnected the old system and started getting to work assembling the new units. This gave me some time to clean up the area, as some mold had formed from leaks in the old system on the cement and vapour barrier. Errol is very pleasant to talk to, and was nice to chat with him as he was doing the install. He was very accommodating in answering all my questions and you can tell he takes pride in doing a good job and enjoys helping people. The install was a 2 step process, he installed all components but waited to activate the UV and RO until after the pipes had been flushed out with bleach and it was confirmed that no coliforms were present in the pipes that could contaminate filters. You could tell he know what he was talking about and I have no regrets going with Hill and Valley and highly recommend them to others that might need to update or get a new water treatment system. When we realized the old ecowater machines were full of water and would be too heavy to carry out, he brought a dolly back when he came to activate the UV and RO a week later and helped carry them. The new RO system looks great next to the kitchen sink and he managed to run the lines along the coldwater pipes so that the RO is a bit more chilled (usually is room temp). Little things like that, show that he isn't rushed to get to the next job and care about doing a good job.
I hope this review helps others that are looking for good well and water treatment contractors.
We now have awesome water pressure, can run all 5 taps or 2 showers at the same time and flush toilet without pressure change, amazing difference. Best of all the RO water taste great and we can now stop buying the culligan bottles... those were always a pain to carry in the house. The new water softener and Iron/Sulphur units work great, no more calcium buildup on baby bottles or in pots and water is good to drink (much better than before), although once you taste the RO you won't go back to just normal tap water!
Good luck everyone, and thanks again Errol. My wife is very happy we have awesome water pressure now... We should have hired out a long time ago!
