Who we are
RuralWaterHQ is an independent publication for homeowners who live beyond the city water line. We cover the three systems every rural home depends on: the private well that brings water in, the treatment equipment that makes it good, and the septic system that takes it away.
Our methodology
1. Diagnosis before products. Every treatment recommendation on this site is tied to a measurable water condition — iron in ppm, hardness in grains per gallon, pH. If we can’t tell you how to confirm the problem, we won’t tell you what to buy for it.
2. Evidence over opinion. Our guides synthesize manufacturer specifications, EPA and CDC guidance on private wells, state extension-service publications, and large volumes of verified owner reviews. Where owners consistently report a failure mode, we report it — even for products we recommend.
3. Honest about limits. We tell you when a repair is DIY-safe and when it isn’t. We are not a substitute for a licensed well driller, plumber, or septic professional, and we link out to find one when that’s the right answer.
How we make money
Some links on this site are affiliate links: if you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Commissions never change our rankings — several of our top picks pay us nothing at all. Full details in our affiliate disclosure.
Who’s behind this site
RuralWaterHQ is an independent editorial project — a small team, not a media conglomerate and not a filtration company. We deliberately publish under the RuralWaterHQ name rather than invented author personas: we’d rather earn your trust through verifiable work than through a stock-photo “expert” with an unverifiable resume.
What you can verify instead:
- Our sources are named. Technical claims cite EPA and CDC private-well guidance, state extension publications, NSF/ANSI standards, and manufacturer documentation — linked where we use them.
- Our methodology is public. How we rank equipment, what disqualifies a product, and how commissions are kept out of rankings: it’s all in our editorial standards.
- Our mistakes are on the record. Corrections are dated and noted on the article itself, not silently edited away.
- Our work is checkable. Every cost range, threshold, and sizing rule is stated precisely enough to be proven wrong. Documented errors are corrected and the change is noted on the article.
We use AI tools in research and drafting, the way modern workshops use power tools. Every published guide is reviewed, fact-checked, and edited by a human before it goes live, and a human is accountable for every claim.