Installation is the villain of this story. A plumber might charge $200 to slap a basic filter on a pipe. But if your house has weird plumbing? That number can balloon to $1,000. It’s like paying for a haircut and ending up with a full spa day—but not the relaxing kind.
Don't forget the media—the sand or carbon inside the tanks. You can't just rinse it. You have to replace it. For a big carbon tank, that’s $300 every few years. It’s cheaper than buying bottled water, but it stings more emotionally.
Then there’s the fun surprise: if you have hard water, you might need a water softener, too. That’s another $1,500 to $3,000. Suddenly, your whole house filter is in a relationship with a second machine. And they both demand salt pellets.
