10–20grains / gal
Very hard water
East Valley tap water is commonly 10 to 20 grains per gallon. Anything above 10.5 is classed as very hard. Scale is the reason water heaters, faucets and valves wear out early here.
Integrity Plumbing Service is based in Apache Junction and describes its service area as the East Valley: the cities and county neighborhoods east and south-east of Phoenix, out to the foot of the Superstition Mountains.
Apache Junction & the Superstition foothills
Home base. A mix of site-built homes on slabs, a great many manufactured and park-model homes, 55+ communities with seasonal residents, and county-island properties on septic. Water comes from the Apache Junction Water District or Arizona Water Company, depending on the street.
- Apache Junction
- Gold Canyon
Mesa & the US 60 corridor
Block ranch homes from the 1960s and 70s near central Mesa, 1980s and 90s subdivisions further east, and newer master-planned neighborhoods past Power Road. Copper under the slab in the older homes, PEX in the newer ones, and very hard water in all of them.
- East Mesa
- Mesa
- Gilbert
- Tempe
The south-east Valley
Fast-growing communities where most homes were built after 2000: PEX piping, water heaters in the garage, softener loops already roughed in, and the first round of water heater replacements well under way.
- Queen Creek
- San Tan Valley
- Chandler
What the East Valley does to plumbing
Four local conditions we plan for.
110°F+garage, July
Heaters in hot garages
Most water heaters here sit in the garage, where summer heat and hard water shorten a tank’s working life. Many need replacing sooner than the national average.
0basements
Homes on slabs
Nearly every site-built home in the East Valley sits on a concrete slab with water lines running beneath it. A leak there shows up as a warm floor or a climbing water bill.
HUDcode homes
Manufactured homes
Apache Junction has an unusually large share of manufactured and park-model homes. Their plumbing runs under the floor, and their water heaters must be rated for manufactured housing.
Apache Junction
A town with every kind of plumbing.
Few places pack as much variety into a few square miles. Along Apache Trail and Ironwood Drive there are block ranch homes on slabs, manufactured-home and RV communities full of winter residents, horse properties on septic at the edge of the county, and new subdivisions climbing toward Gold Canyon.
Each has its own plumbing: copper under concrete, polybutylene under a floor, a septic tank behind the house, or PEX in the attic. A repair plumber here has to know all of them.
Not sure you are in range?
Call and ask.
If you are anywhere in the East Valley, call (480) 973-2020 with your address and we will tell you straight away whether we can get to you.