Stay away from Frank Gay.

I was living here for a few months and make lots of iced tea. There was a ton of scum (or particles that are being cooked in the making of the tea) in the tea pitcher. Added a Nova system and tea pitcher is clean. Nova adds 3 filters in the garage next to the main shutoff which they change 1x a year. They have been great from the day they installed to the annual filter changes.

Thanks for the post… it reminded me of the time to change my filters…

We have been here 10 years no total house filter,water is fine drinking and bathing , some feel the need for a filter most do not.

The water is a little, not excessively, hard. If you chose a cartridge filter, not much difference in the companies. If you go for a water softener, than do your research. For us, a cartridge system was sufficient.

We have the Nova system, and are completely satisfied. Our tap water when untreated had a heavy chlorine taste/smell. The filtration system took care of that. If you're moderately handy, you can do the annual filter change yourself. I replaced mine at 26,000 gallons, which was right at one year of use. The used sediment filters were a disgusting brown in color, compared to the bright white new ones. Keep in mind, your fridge filter will take care of your drinking water, but you still bathe, wash clothes, and cook in that stuff. If you will be living south of SR44, you will want a whole-house filter system.

Wait until you get here as you may not need it - we needed it in one home - moved 6 minute cart ride away and do not need a filter system!

Best Quality & Value Water Softener
 

After we moved to TV, we shopped for a water softener/purification system that offered the best value, including purchase price and long term costs to operate and maintain the system over the years. We purchased our system from Jeff Ursu who may be reached at 352-653-7708 whose system had the lowest purchase price and lowest cost to maintain. He installed a new system in our garage that has provided great water for the past 2 years. Except for adding salt once (Very easy to do yourself, but Jeff will deliver the salt and do it for you if you desire), the system has been completely maintenance free - 100% reliable.

Our drinking water, out of the fridge, tasted good before and after installing a Pelican system, which we are very happy with. We chose that system to make it easier to prevent/remove the limestone coating everything without having to add bags of sodium/potassium every month or so.

The refrigerator filter is fine. I don’t have any problems with tap water either. South if 44. Units go on the golf cart side of garage from what I noticed. Make a decision after a few months.

Water softener system and carbon filter. Softener will extend the life of your hot water tank, dishwasher, and clothes washer. Carbon filter takes all the unneeded chemicals from your drinking water. Both are worth the investment.

The water is safe to drink, but it's very hard water. The person in your home doing daily cleaning around the faucets, etc will notice a residue or scale wherever water puddles, a ring around the toilet bowl no matter how clean, etc. which is hard to remove. Periodically, I use a de-scaler. I am considering a water conditioner, but it's hard to decide just what to get. Lots of confusing and contradicting info. If you don't mind the slimy feeling when rinsing off in the shower, then a water softener might do.

This is your personal opinion and thats fine but these larger companies with long histories and quality products can be very over priced and some sales people will sell you equipment you don't need.

Nova might be a local company but they know the Villages water, homes and what is actually needed for a reasonable price. The owner actually lives here with us in the Villages. There have been some published issues but many have to do with other factors such as a faulty unmaintained expansion tanks for example.

Nova being a local smaller company gives you great service. If there is ever an emergency they come right over day or night. They are highly recommended.

The problem with the water in the Villages is it has a fairly high chlorine level so you will smell and taste this right away. That said i would recommend getting the Nova whole house filter to filter the chlorine and sediment from your water and after living in the house for a while, if you feel the water is too hard you can then add a Nova water softener. Hope this helps.

Sorry to disagree, but my research indicated the Nova filtraron system is far superior to Pelican. The sizes of the Pelican cartridge pales in comparison to the three stage Nova filter
cartridges
Pelican repetitively sent salesman to my home and attempted to extort over $3500 for their system on the first call eventually offering the same for $1200 after several no answers
Nova, has one published price, ethical practices, forthright customer service and a superior product at a much lower price
I enjoy your posts and usually agree with you, you need to checkout Nova again

We don’t have a filter system, so far it’s been fine. Try it for a while.

Actually our water here in the Villages is moderately hard. I believe it's a 12 level but never the less, I had the same issues when trying to figure out if i needed a water softener and which one to get. I decided on the Nova softener because it was about half the price, installed, than most of the other's on the market and lasts just as long. For about $1,200 i had mine installed after previously having the Nova whole house filter installed when i moved in. The result, no more chlorine smell and taste, my water heater doesn't have sediment build up any longer so no need to drain it once a year or if i do all i have to do is let out a little water and done, and no more cleaning out the faucet aerators thanks to the filter. The softener enabled us to use less soap, no more crud buildup on the faucets and shower and the clothes are cleaner. Also don't have to worry about mineral build up shortening the life of my water heater and other appliances any more. This is just information to help you better decide what you may want to do.