"tryz" wrote:

My wife and I just built a house in the Orlando, FL area. We have a
well (that we never had before) and the water has a rotten-egg smell.

We had an independant water guy come out and he said for a chlorinator,
tank, charchole filter, water softner, and under-sink reverse-osmosis
filter we'd need to pay $3,500. Does this seem right?

You need to know what the problem is before you solve it. It sounds like your
"water guy" suggested everything he sells.

Chlorinators are used when the water has high bacteria. They shouldn't be needed
for a new well that was installed properly.

The rotten egg odor is hydrogen sulfide and would be cleared up by a charcoal
filter. You could buy a whole house one of these for less than $100 at Home
Depot or Lowes.

When your well was installed, you should have received a well report that will
show both of the above and more. If not ask your builder or the county for a
copy.

Water softners take care of high mineral (calcium or magnesium) content.
Hardness test are free or very low cost and will tell you if you need a
softener. Installed should be less than $1000 for a decent mid grade unit. Don't
get sucked up into getting magic magnets, super kinetic boxes or anything other
than a standard resin tank softner.

Reverse osmosis systems at the kitchen sink take care of all of the above
problems for small quantities of water. Keep in mind that they remove *all*
minerals which is not a good thing as far as taste is concerned. Look at the
contents of AquaFina or any other bottled water...