El Cajon sits in a valley east of San Diego and La Mesa, a separate city with its own building department. Whether you want water filtration in El Cajon, a softener, or both, the path is the same: find out what is in your water, then match the equipment to it. This page sets out that path in order.
Water Softener San Diego is an independent referral service, not an installer, plumber or equipment seller. When you send the form, your details are passed to an independent local water treatment pro, who can contact you and prepare a quote.
Your provider and its report
The City of San Diego’s hardness figure is for City of San Diego Public Utilities customers only. In El Cajon, check your water bill for the name of the provider that serves your home, and open its latest annual water quality report. This site does not print El Cajon figures; it prints a utility’s figures only for that utility’s own customers.
A test at your tap
A report describes the water a provider delivers. A test at your own tap shows what reaches your house, after your own pipes and fixtures. Ask for hardness in grains per gallon if a softener is on the table, and for anything specific that concerns you.
Match the problem to the equipment
| What you see | Equipment to ask about |
|---|---|
| White spots, scale, poor lather | A softener certified to NSF/ANSI 44 |
| Chlorine taste or smell | A filter certified to NSF/ANSI 42 |
| A concern about lead | A filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead, or RO |
| Wanting filtered drinking water | Reverse osmosis certified to NSF/ANSI 58 |
| Reddish, orange or black staining | A test first: EPA links these to iron and manganese |
EPA’s secondary standards, which are guidelines rather than enforced limits, set iron at 0.3 mg/L and manganese at 0.05 mg/L, and total dissolved solids at 500 mg/L. Staining or a metallic taste is a reason to test before you buy anything. The water treatment page has the full table.
Place it in your house
El Cajon’s homes run from the blocks around downtown and Main Street to the hillside streets of Fletcher Hills. A whole-house filter or softener goes on the main line where it enters the house, with a drain and an outlet near; an under-sink filter or RO unit needs room in the kitchen cabinet and a drain connection. Ask the installer to show you where everything will sit, and whether the garden and outside taps will be on treated water.
The permit
The Simple No-Plan permit described on this site is the City of San Diego’s. El Cajon has its own building department and its own rules. Check with the City of El Cajon, and ask the installer which permit they will pull and whether it is in the quote.
Already have a softener?
If an existing softener has stopped working, check the bypass valve, the power and the salt before anything else, and look for a salt bridge in the brine tank. If hard water still comes through, a service visit can look at the valve, the brine draw and the resin; see water softener repair. Water utilities commonly note that some softening systems can increase the corrosivity of the water, which can damage the anode in a water heater, so ask the pro about the water heater too.
What to tell the pro
- Your El Cajon ZIP code
- Your water provider, from your bill
- What you notice, or what you want the system to do
- Whether there is an old softener or filter in place
See water filtration and water softener installation for more on each, and the areas page for nearby cities.
In El Cajon? Tell us about your water and an independent local pro can contact you.
Questions people ask
Does San Diego’s hardness figure apply in El Cajon?
Only if your water bill comes from City of San Diego Public Utilities. Otherwise read your own provider’s annual water quality report.
Do I need a permit for a softener in El Cajon?
Check with the City of El Cajon’s building department; its rules apply, not San Diego’s. Ask the installer which permit they will pull.
Filter or softener?
A filter deals with taste, odor and specific contaminants; a softener deals with hardness. A test at your tap shows which you need, or whether you need both.
Can one visit cover a softener and a filter?
Ask. Mention both in the notes on the contact form, and ask the installer to quote each part as its own line, with what it is certified to.
Tell us about your water