What happens when you ring
You tell us what is bothering you — the taste, the smell, sediment in the kettle, or a filter that went in years ago and has never been touched since.
A licensed plumber comes out at no charge. He looks at where the water comes into the house, what is under the sink, and what the benchtop and cupboard will actually allow. Then you get a written price on the spot. Transparent pricing, no hidden costs, and you are not committed to anything by asking.
Why Perth households filter at all
Water Corporation adds chlorine to all of its water supply schemes. It is there as a disinfectant, and it is the reason the water is protected the whole way from the treatment plant to your tap — Water Corporation notes it is especially effective where long pipelines and high water temperatures increase the potential for harmful organisms to grow.
Chlorine does its job. It also has a taste, and that taste is the single most common reason a household decides to put a filter in.
The other thing worth knowing is that Perth water is not one water. Water Corporation supplies more than 1.2 million properties from 43 surface water sources, 92 groundwater sources, two major desalination plants and one groundwater replenishment scheme. The blend shifts. That is why the tap can taste like one thing in March and something slightly different in September, and why a filter is a more reliable answer than waiting for it to change back.
A filter is about taste, odour and sediment. We are not going to tell you the mains supply is unsafe — it is not, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
Why Kardinya houses suit this work
Kardinya was gazetted in 1961, but the houses arrived later. The north-eastern quadrant began on 5 October 1967, the south-eastern followed through the 1970s, the south-western came next, and the north-western quadrant was the last to be built out during the 1980s.
What that left is a suburb of detached houses. At the 2021 Census there were 3,772 private dwellings here and 2,978 of them were separate houses — 86.1 per cent of occupied private dwellings, against 9,137 residents and a median age of 42.
That matters more than it sounds. A detached house on its own block has its own water meter at the front boundary, usually has side access running down a boundary, and has a kitchen with a cupboard under the sink and a benchtop you are allowed to drill. Those four things are what a filter install needs. A house of that age and type is about as straightforward as this job gets.
The other side of it is honest too. A house built in the 1970s has had fittings changed by a lot of different hands over fifty years, and what is under the sink now may not be what the plans said. That is not a problem — it is just a reason the plumber looks before quoting rather than after.
The systems we put in
Whole-house filtration
Plumbed in where the water enters the property, so every tap, every shower and the laundry all run filtered. The bigger job of the two, and the one that legally needs a licensed plumber. Whole house water filter installation in Kardinya
Under-sink filtration
The cheapest way to fix the taste of the water you actually drink. A cartridge unit in the cupboard, feeding the kitchen tap. Under sink water filter installation in Kardinya
Reverse osmosis
The highest level of drinking-water purification for a home. A multi-stage unit with a small storage tank, and a drain connection that a standard cartridge system does not need. Reverse osmosis installation in Kardinya
A dedicated filtered tap
A separate little tap beside the mixer, so filtered water comes out of its own spout and the main tap carries on as normal. Water filter tap installation in Kardinya
Cartridge replacement and servicing
For the system that already exists. Flow has dropped off, or the chlorine taste has crept back, and nobody has changed a cartridge since it went in. Water filter cartridge replacement in Kardinya
Not sure which of those you want? That is normal, and it is what the free visit is for. Compare the systems
Whole house or under sink?
This is the fork in the road, so it is worth being plain about it.
Under-sink is about drinking water. One unit, one cupboard, one tap. It handles what you drink and cook with, which is where taste matters most. It is the smaller job, the smaller price, and it is reversible — if you sell, it stays or it goes.
Whole-house is about all the water. It goes in at the meter, which means the shower, the laundry and every basin in the house run through it as well. People choose it because of what chlorine does to skin and hair, or because they are tired of filtered water being available at exactly one tap in the house.
Whole-house costs more and it takes longer, because it involves cutting into the main line and building a serviceable bypass so the house is not without water every time a cartridge is due. Under-sink is a couple of hours in a cupboard.
Neither is the right answer for everyone. The plumber will tell you which one actually suits the house, and if the smaller job does the thing you are annoyed about, he will say so.
Why Kardinya calls us
A licensed plumber does the work
Plumbing Licence 8396 and Gas Licence 13098, both held by Tim, who does the work himself. Connecting a filter to the mains is plumbing work, and in Western Australia that is not a job for whoever has a spanner.
$0 call-out fee
We do not charge to come out and look. If the answer turns out to be a fifteen-dollar cartridge rather than a new system, you have lost nothing by asking.
A free, written quote
The price is in writing, on site, before any work starts. Transparent pricing and no hidden costs is the whole point — you should not find out about a fitting, a bracket or a bypass after the fact.
We are close by
We work out of Leeming. Kardinya is the next patch over, not a job on the other side of the river.
Customer satisfaction guaranteed
It is why we would rather talk you out of an oversized system than sell you one.
What the install actually involves
You ring or send the form
Tell us which tap bothers you and whether there is anything under the sink already.
A licensed plumber comes out, at no charge
He looks at the meter position, the cupboard, the benchtop and the existing cold feed.
You get a written price
On site, itemised, before anything is touched. If you would rather sit on it, sit on it.
We fit it
Isolation, cutting in, mounting the housing, connecting, flushing the system through and checking for leaks under pressure.
You get the paperwork
The manufacturer's documents for the unit, and a straight answer about when the cartridges are next due.
Where we work
Kardinya is the middle of this patch. We also cover the suburbs around it — Winthrop, Murdoch, Bateman, Melville, Willagee, Booragoon, Myaree, Bull Creek, North Lake and Samson.
If you are just outside that ring, ring anyway. It costs nothing to ask. All service areas
Common questions
What is the average cost to install a water filter system?
It depends on which system, where it has to go, and what is already plumbed in. An under-sink cartridge unit in a cupboard with a working cold feed is the cheap end. A whole-house system at the meter, with a bypass built in so the house keeps water during servicing, is the dear end. We are not going to guess at a figure on a web page — a licensed plumber comes out at no charge, looks at the actual house, and leaves you with a written price before anything starts.
How much does it cost to install a water filter tap?
Less than people expect if there is already a filter under the sink and a spare hole in the benchtop, and more if the benchtop is stone and has to be drilled. The tap itself, the finish you want it to match, and the state of the existing cold feed are the three things that move it. You get the exact number in writing on site. More on filtered tap installation
How much does a complete home water filter system cost in Perth?
A whole-house system is priced on the unit you choose and the work around it — where the main enters the property, whether there is room to mount the housings and a bypass, and what the existing pipework at that point is made of. Those things are different at every house, which is why the honest answer is a free visit and a written price rather than a number here.
Where should a water filter be installed?
Two sensible places. A whole-house unit goes where the water enters the property, near the meter, because everything downstream of that point is then filtered. An under-sink unit goes in the kitchen cupboard, feeding either the existing mixer or its own dedicated tap. Which one suits you is mostly about whether you want filtered drinking water or filtered everything.
How often do the cartridges need changing?
Manufacturers generally nominate a period, commonly around twelve months, and the household's water use moves it either way. The practical signs are the ones people actually notice: the flow drops off, or the taste you put the filter in to get rid of starts coming back. Cartridge replacement in Kardinya
Do I need a licensed plumber to put a water filter in?
For anything connected to the mains water supply, yes. A whole-house system is cut into the incoming main and is plumbing work. Under-sink units are smaller, but they are still a permanent connection to the drinking water supply, and the connection is what a licence covers. Ours is Plumbing Licence 8396.
Will a filter fix hard water or scale?
Those are different problems with different answers, and a standard sediment-and-carbon cartridge is aimed at taste, odour and particles rather than scale. Tell us what you are actually seeing — kettle deposits, marks on glassware, a taste — and the plumber will tell you on site whether filtration is the right tool for it or whether it is not.
What are your hours?
Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 4:00pm. We do not run after-hours or weekend work, so if you ring outside those times leave a message or send the form and we will get back to you. Contact us
Do you work outside Kardinya?
Yes — right across the suburbs around it, and we are based in Leeming so most of them are close. See the full list
Get it sorted
Tell us what is happening with your water and we will call you back to arrange a time. A licensed plumber comes out at no charge, looks at the house, and leaves you with a written price.