[MFinn]

We hope to be moving to TV in the next several months, and I keep reading about aggressive “water system sales”. To what does “water system” refer? Do I need a water system with a new build? Thank you.

[dewilson58]

Pelican & Nova are the two main ones in TV.


Nova is a local sales guy.


Pelican has a nice website.


Good Luck.

[retiredguy123]

Pelican and Nova both sell whole house water filtration systems and water softener systems. I think Pelican recently changed their name to Pentair. You don't "need" either one of these systems, and having a new house has nothing to do with it. It is about making your water cleaner and/or softer. In my opinion, the water in The Villages is average or better than most public water systems in the rest of the country. Most people do not have a water filter or softener in their house. But, it is a personal preference to buy one or not. Obviously, both Nova and Pentair will tell you that you need a system and that their system is better than the other guy's system. I am happy with having no system at all.

[ctmurray]

I would not say there was aggressive sales. When we decided we wanted something, I asked here for recommendations on this site, found an ad in the paper to get their number, and we ended getting Nova. The system we got is a series of three filters one to take out large particles and the other, finer filters, to remove other contaminants. We come from an area up north with deep artesian wells, and the water is so good. Down here the wells are shallow and they have to add lots of chlorine, and we noticed the bad taste. So, for several years we were going to Publix and paying for the water from their machine that does this same filtering. When the pandemic hit and we did not want to go into stores, we decided to get a filter system for the house. The cost was about $700 and the filters get changed once a year (don't know the replacement filter costs, have not replaced them yet).

[villagetinker]

OP, move into your new home, do not let the "welcome wagon" person in, do not agree to buy any water system until you have lived in the house for a few weeks. We did not like the water, too hard, and the taste of chlorine. I had already been approached by a sales person who "tested" our water and found it to be bad. I did my research, and as noted above the water meets or exceeds all government requirements, it is safe. I bought Sears water softener and Sears whole house filter. I only need to add salt about 4 bags a year. There have been many threads about this subject, so do your own research, these 'systems' go from the DIY which I did for around $600 to several thousand dollars.

[DangeloInspections]

We recommend that you live in your home awhile and see if you feel the need for any water treatment. You should also know that there is water filtration and water softening. They are two different systems and outcomes. There are some dual units, but generally filtration does not soften and softeners do not filter.

There IS one company that DOES aggressively market their product and often will give you a very high estimate. They are hard sell and will hit you within days of closing, promising you a welcome basket or something. We do not recommend that company.

Once you live here awhile and feel you may benefit from either a filtration system and/or a softener system, we recommend NOVA. They are NOT hard sell, and are a local family business. Their prices are very reasonable and many folks, including both my two sons and I are happy with their product.

When folks buy here in The Villages many soon come to the conclusion that they bought a "brand new fixer upper" and start spending a lot of money doing upgrades just because they are talked into it or their neighbor did it. It is wise to wait and live here awhile and see your different options and if you really need it. We see too many good folks get taken advantage of.

The only upgrade we do advise folks to get, IF they want it, right away is if you want your garage floor epoxied. It is better to get this done before you fill your garage up with tons of stuff you moved here with without realizing you probably should not have brought it with you. We recommend Tim Miller for this, and you should consider arranging for this as soon as you know your closing date. Hope this helps!

Frank D.

[Garywt]

There is a lot of talk about hard water and dirty water. Others say there are no problems. We put a whole house filter by Nova in when we bought. Mostly because the only tap water I drink is at our house up north and with the filter I drink the water at my Florida home. We do not like the feel of softened water especially in the shower so we did not add that system but many do. Personal preference I guess but the $600 for the Nova system was a no brained for us.

[vintageogauge]

We bought the Nova filter system and softener, way, way lower in cost than the other 2 companies. They are not hard sell at all, when we ordered the system they didn't even mention the softener, I had to ask and he pretty much said it's a personal decision as the water is not that hard down here. Two things, after installing the filters there is no need to replace your fridge water filter as there is nothing left to filter out and as far as the softener, we use potassium pellets and we noticed the difference immediately, not slimy like the sodium pellets but softer water and the white scale that had been building up on our bronze fixtures was no longer a problem, it used one bag every 2 months. We have no regrets, have great water quality and taste, and would highly recommend Nova.

[MFinn]

Thank you all!

[JMintzer]

Our home (a re-sale) came with a Pelican softener/filter system.

The tech came out and serviced it (the previous owners had neglected service for 2 years) which re-instated the lifetime warranty...

It's a Potassium system.

We've only been in the house a short time, but I do like the feel of the water. Taste? Tastes like water...

I'll probably still change the filter in the refrigerator, just for the warranty and peace of mind...

We're not yet full time residents (c'mon retirement!), but so far, so good...