Water Treatment Services in Baxter, MN
Baxter runs its own city wells and treatment plant, and it publishes its own hardness figure. Our free test at your sink shows where your tap sits against that number. Private wells get the same free test.
Get a Free QuoteServing Baxter Homes on City Water and Wells
Some Baxter homes are on private wells, and most are on city water. The two often need different equipment, so that's the first thing we ask.
We've been family-owned since 1969, and we install Hellenbrand equipment as a factory-authorized dealer. Our closest store is in Pequot Lakes, at 29621 MN-371, about 20 miles north of Baxter City Hall. Our Crow Wing County page covers the county's other towns.
What we do for Baxter homes:
- Free water testing at your sink
- Softeners set to your hardness reading
- Iron filters for Baxter wells
- Under-sink reverse osmosis
- Mail-in lab kits for lead, bacteria and nitrate
Baxter Water Hardness and Softener Sizing
The City of Baxter's own drinking water report gives the average hardness as 13 grains per gallon. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) says a home above 7 grains might need a softener. Because 13 is an average, we size a water softener to your own tap reading and household.
The city's plant takes out iron and manganese and adds chlorine. It doesn't soften, so that hardness comes through to your faucet.
The city's report flags a trade-off: home softening can raise the sodium in your water. If that matters to you, we can leave the kitchen cold tap on hard water, or put reverse osmosis under the sink for drinking.
Private Wells Inside Baxter City Limits
On a private well, none of the city's treatment reaches your tap. Whatever iron, manganese and hardness the well carries comes straight through.
If your well is typical of the state's well records for Baxter, it draws from sand about 60 feet down. The Minnesota DNR rates the surface sand around Baxter as highly sensitive to pollution. Its sampling also found that water soaking in from the surface has reached the shallow buried sand below. So keep up the yearly lab test for coliform bacteria and nitrate that MDH's well testing guidance calls for.
Our free test reads iron, manganese, hardness and pH at your sink. If there's more iron than the softener is built to handle, an iron filter goes in ahead of it.
If your house moves from its well to city water, the equipment should change too. The iron filter may have little left to do, and the softener gets reset to the new water's hardness.
Lead Testing for Newer Baxter Homes
Baxter's housing is young. Most homes were built in 1990 or later, and the city's service line records list no lead lines. On city water, that leaves the plumbing inside the house to check: faucets, valves, fittings and, in older homes, solder.
In a newer house, brass is the part to watch. Brass faucets and valves can leach some lead, especially when new, so a new build or a new faucet is a good reason for one lab test.
EPA says testing is the only way to confirm lead. Lead can't be read at the sink, so the sample goes to a lab through a mail-in kit. If lead shows up, our lead removal page covers treatment at the drinking tap.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 13 grains per gallon mean for a Baxter home?
It's well past the 7 grains per gallon where MDH says a home might need a softener. Hard water leaves spots on glassware, soap film in tubs and sinks, and scale on faucets and inside the water heater. A softener set too high wastes water, so we set yours to your own tap reading.
Does Baxter get its water from Brainerd?
Not as its main supply. Baxter pumps its own city wells and treats the water at its own plant. The two systems are connected, and the city's report says Baxter buys treated water from Brainerd in an emergency. The city has also said the two use different treatment processes. So a Baxter tap should be read against Baxter's report and its own test, not Brainerd's.
If the city publishes its hardness, why test my Baxter water?
Because the report describes the whole system, not your house. The hardness is an average, and the lead results come from the homes the city sampled. Our free in-home test reads hardness, iron, manganese, pH, TDS and chlorine on the spot, at your sink. No system recommendation until we have real numbers.
If Baxter's records show no lead service lines, can my tap still have lead?
It can. Faucets, valves and fittings inside the house can add lead even when the service line isn't lead. MDH describes two samples: a first draw after the water sits at least 6 hours, and a flushed one after a minute or two of running. If lead stays high after the water runs, the city's report says to treat the water.
When was my Baxter well drilled, and does it matter for lead?
Look up your address in the Minnesota Well Index for the Date Drilled, though wells from before 1974, when records became required, may be missing. If your well was drilled in 1993 or earlier, as many Baxter wells on record were, MDH says it may have a lead packer, a seal above the well screen. Check your pump separately: a submersible pump made before 1995 may contain leaded brass. One lead test covers both.
Was my Baxter well tested for arsenic when it was drilled?
Probably not, unless it's a newer well. MDH says well contractors have tested each newly drilled well for arsenic since 2008, and you can look those results up in the Minnesota Well Index. Most Baxter wells on record are older, so yours likely has no result on file. MDH recommends an arsenic test at least once for every well. It takes a lab, and we can set you up with a mail-in kit.
Water Treatment Services in Baxter
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Pick Water Testing in the quote form. In the message box, tell us whether the house is on Baxter city water or a private well and roughly when it was built. Both help us choose the right tests for your house.
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