Hayes Plumbing handles water softener repair in Pickering, from Bay Ridges, Amberlea and Duffin Heights to the new streets of Seaton and the rural hamlets beyond. Our licensed plumbers are based at 448 Ritson Rd. South in Oshawa, and the drive to Pickering usually takes 25 to 35 minutes. Pickering has two kinds of water supply: most homes are supplied with the Region's Lake Ontario water, while many rural properties draw from their own wells. A softener has to be set up for the water it actually treats, so that is where every visit starts.
Lake water in the city, wells in the country
Urban Pickering gets its water from the Ajax Drinking Water System, which the Region of Durham runs on Lake Ontario water. The Region gives that supply a hardness figure of 125 mg/L as calcium carbonate, and its 2025 report for the system lists construction of a Seaton reservoir and water pumping station among the year's major expenses. For homes on this supply, the Region calls a softener a personal preference rather than a requirement.
Beyond the urban area, the City's Official Plan designates the rural hamlets of Cherrywood, Whitevale, Green River, Brougham, Greenwood, Kinsale and Balsam, plus Claremont, most of which the Plan treats as an Oak Ridges Moraine hamlet. The Region points out that many rural residents use private wells and septic systems, and a well follows none of the Region's figures. According to Health Canada, groundwater generally carries higher hardness levels, so a well needs its own test before a softener is sized or reset.
Common softener faults and what they point to
On either supply, a failing softener tends to show one of the symptoms below. We find the cause before ordering any parts, and the repair is priced in writing first.
- Hard water even though salt is being used. The hardness setting may be too low for the water, the resin may be worn or fouled, or the control valve may not be finishing its cycle.
- A salty taste after regeneration. The brine may not be rinsing out, which can point to a partly blocked drain line or a valve fault.
- Lower water pressure. A clogged screen, sediment or broken-down resin can restrict flow, and switching the unit to bypass for a minute shows whether the softener is the cause.
- Small beads in faucet aerators or the toilet tank. Resin is escaping the tank, usually because an internal part has cracked.
- Water running to the drain for hours, or a leak at the bypass or fittings. The valve may be stuck partway through a cycle, or O-rings and connections have worn and need replacing.
Wells, sodium and septic in rural Pickering
If your softener treats well water, these official sources are worth knowing:
- Bacteria testing of private well water is free from the Region. Bottles can be picked up and samples dropped off at Regional Headquarters, 605 Rossland Rd. E. in Whitby, where samples left at the first-floor reception by 10 a.m. on weekdays go to the provincial lab the same day.
- Chemistry such as hardness and iron is a separate, paid test. The Region's York-Durham Regional Environmental Lab, inside the Duffin Creek Water Pollution Control Plant at 901 McKay Road, Pickering, does fee-based drinking water testing; call the lab at 905-686-0041 to ask which tests it offers and what they cost.
- The Region's Private Well Water Manual names 'water softener uses sodium' as one source of sodium in well water and suggests a softener that does not use sodium as one remedy. We can set a softener up to run on potassium chloride instead of salt.
- Septic systems in Pickering are approved by the Durham Region Health Department, and Ontario's SepticSmart guide warns against draining a softener's backwash into a septic system not designed to take it. If your softener drains to the septic, ask the Health Department through the Durham Health Connection Line, 905-668-2020, before changing anything.
Water softener installation in Pickering
A new softener is sized from your own water and household: we test hardness and iron, then match the capacity to how much water you use. If the test suggests your well needs treatment beyond a softener, we tell you before you buy anything.
The City of Pickering's Building Services puts 'Any Plumbing' and 'Installing or modifying heating and or plumbing systems' on its list of work that may require a building permit. Applications go through the City's online portal, and staff answer questions at 905.420.4631, so call them if you are unsure whether a permit applies to your softener.
Repairs are priced once the fault is found, and new softeners by capacity. Either way, the figure is written down for you before work begins, and there is no charge for a quote on a new softener.