Nassau County is two water markets in one. East of I-95 most homes are on a utility — JEA, the City of Fernandina Beach or Nassau Amelia Utilities. West of it, Callahan, Hilliard, Bryceville and most of the county’s acreage lots run on private wells. Same aquifer underneath, very different water at the tap.
City water: known hardness, added chlorine
The utilities pull from the Floridan aquifer, aerate it to blow off the sulfur smell, and add chlorine to keep it safe through the pipes. No softening step. So two things arrive at your house every day:
- Hardness — published at 16 grains per gallon on the JEA grid serving Yulee, Wildlight and 32034 (“very hard”). Spots, scale, soap that won’t lather.
- Free chlorine — JEA reports an average of 0.95 parts per million; Nassau Amelia Utilities 1.96 on average with a range up to 3.9. That is the pool smell in the shower and the taste in the glass. Our utilities use free chlorine, not chloramine, which matters for the carbon we spec.
The utility also reports an odor reading well above the secondary standard, and Fernandina Beach reports dissolved solids slightly over its secondary standard. Those are look, smell and taste numbers — the utilities say so in their own footnotes, and we say it the same way.
What fits: a system with carbon on top to take out the chlorine taste and smell and softening resin below it to bring hardness to zero grains — that is our Mixed Bed — plus reverse osmosis under the kitchen sink for drinking and cooking. Larger households or four-plus bathrooms step up to the XL or a Dual Tank. City water is quoted from the published number; no test visit required.
Well water: nothing is published, so everything is tested
A private well has no utility report and no chlorine. What it does have depends on the depth, the casing and the exact spot on the map. In this county the usual suspects are:
- Iron — orange or rust staining in the tub, toilet and laundry. Sometimes it is dissolved and clear coming out of the tap, then stains after it sits in air.
- Sulfur — the rotten-egg smell, worst on hot water first thing in the morning.
- Hardness — typically 7 to 25 grains or more, higher than the city grid in a lot of homes.
- Low pH — slightly acidic water that is rough on copper and fixtures and leaves blue-green stains.
- Sediment — sand and fines that chew up valves and appliances.
We test every well before we quote, and we test with you there. Hardness, iron, pH, total dissolved solids and a sulfur check at minimum; a lab test when the iron or sulfur is high enough to need peroxide treatment.
What fits: the Dual Tank — Well system — air injection traps the iron in the first tank, the second tank softens, and a 5-micron pre-sediment housing goes on every well. If the test shows low pH or a bacteria concern, a pH booster or UV light is added as a priced line item, not a surprise. Heavy iron and sulfur move to the peroxide system, which is priced after the lab test.
Septic matters too
A large share of well homes are also on septic. A softener’s rinse cycle sends brine down a drain, and where that drain goes is part of the install plan, not an afterthought. We walk through the drain options on the site survey and put the answer in writing before the install date.
The short version
| City water | Well water | |
|---|---|---|
| What we know up front | Hardness and chlorine from the utility’s report | Nothing — tested first, free |
| Main complaints | Spots, scale, chlorine taste and smell | Rust stains, sulfur smell, hardness, sediment |
| Usual system | Mixed Bed + drinking water | Dual Tank — Well + pre-sediment + drinking water |
| Price | Published, in writing before install | Starting price published, confirmed after the test |