We Install Water Filtration Systems in Hawke's Bay
Clean drinking water, softer water for your skin, and filtered water through the whole house: APlus installs the lot across Hawke's Bay, and we put real prices on the page so you know roughly what you're in for before you call. We're Hastings-based, certified across plumbing, gas, and drainage, and director Jacob is usually the one who turns up to look at the job. An under-bench drinking filter starts around $700–800; a whole-house carbon filter starts from $1,200 installed.
Types of water filter and what they cost
There's no single "water filter". The right system depends on what's in your water and how much of the house you want it to cover. We fit Puretec filtration systems; here's the range and the rough installed cost of each.
Under-bench drinking-water filter, around $600–800. Fits under the kitchen sink and runs to its own tap, so you get filtered water for drinking and cooking without touching the rest of the house. The cheapest way to fix the taste of town water.
Whole-house carbon filter, from $1,200 installed. Sits on the main cold-water inlet and filters every tap, shower, and appliance in the house. The pick if it's chlorine taste or sediment you're chasing and you want it gone everywhere, not just at one tap.
UV systems, around $3,000. Ultraviolet light kills bacteria and protozoa. This is the one you usually need if you're on a rainwater tank or a bore, where bugs are the real risk rather than taste.
Reverse osmosis, around $2,000 under-bench or $8,000–10,000 whole-house. The most thorough option: it strips out dissolved contaminants and microplastics, down to the nanoplastics that carbon filters let through. Most homes only need it under the sink for drinking water; a whole-house RO setup is a bigger job for specific water problems.
Water softeners, $4,000–5,000. For hard water that's leaving scale on your tapware and shortening the life of your hot water systems and appliances. A planned upgrade rather than a quick fix.
Every price here is a starting point, not a fixed quote. What you actually pay depends on your water and your house, which is why we come and look first.
Whole-house or under-bench: which one do you need?
If you only care about drinking and cooking water, an under-bench filter is usually all you need and it's the cheapest option. If you want filtered water through every tap and shower, which is better for your skin and hair and easier on your appliances, that's a whole-house system. And if you're on tank or bore water, you'll usually want a whole-house filter paired with UV to handle bacteria, not just taste.
Most town-supply homes start with one of two things: an under-bench filter for the kitchen, or a whole-house carbon filter if the chlorine taste bothers them everywhere. You can start with under-bench and add a whole-house system later if you want. They're not an either-or for life.
Town supply, rainwater tank, or bore water?
Where your water comes from changes what your filter needs to do.
Town supply (most homes in Hastings, Napier, and Havelock North) is treated and safe to drink, so filtration here is mostly about taste, chlorine, and sediment. A carbon filter, whole-house or under-bench, usually does the job.
Rainwater tanks collect roof debris, leaves, and whatever the birds leave behind, so they need sediment filtering plus UV to deal with bacteria. Town treatment isn't doing that work for you here.
Bore water varies hugely from one property to the next: some bores are clean, some carry sediment, bacteria, or other contaminants. The honest answer is you test it first, then match the system to what the test finds. We won't guess at a bore setup without knowing what's in the water.
What about microplastics?
Microplastics are the water filtration concern we get asked about most, and it's a fair one. They show up in town supply, tank water, and bottled water alike. Here's the honest answer: a standard carbon filter only catches the larger particles. To actually strip microplastics out, down to the tiny nanoplastics that carbon lets through, you need reverse osmosis. Its membrane filters thousands of times finer than carbon, and reviews of water-filtration research consistently rank reverse osmosis at the top for removing microplastics.
For most homes that means an under-bench reverse osmosis system on the kitchen tap, so the water you drink and cook with is the water that's properly filtered. We pair it with a carbon pre-filter, which deals with chlorine and sediment and protects the RO membrane. If microplastics are what's worrying you, that's the water filtration setup to ask us about.
Sources: A review of microplastic removal from water and wastewater by membrane technology, Water Science & Technology (2023); Microplastics from headwaters to tap water, Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2021).
What's involved in a water filter installation?
We don't quote water filtration over the phone. Every water situation is different, so we come and look at your supply, your water, and where the system needs to go before we put a number on it.
Once you've picked a system, install is a straightforward job for a licensed plumber, usually done in a day for a standard setup. You're dealing with APlus the whole way through, not a call centre. As Jacob puts it: "You're ringing me, who cares about the business. You're not ringing some office person that's not a plumber."
We'll also tell you straight if you don't need the expensive option. If a simple under-bench filter sorts your problem, that's what we'll recommend. We'd rather do the right job than the big one.
Why APlus for water filtration in Hawke's Bay
Certified across plumbing, gas, and drainage in-house. Three certified plumbers at the top NZ trade level, plus qualified plumbers and an apprentice, and two certified drainlayers on the team. One of them, Beano, holds a backflow-prevention ticket. That's the qualification for stopping used or dirty water siphoning back into your clean supply, which matters any time a filter is plumbed into the mains.
You get the owner on the job. Jacob is the director and still on the tools. He quotes the work, comes to site, and sends the bill himself.
Real prices, upfront. The installed price bands are on this page because most filtration pages make you call to find out, and we'd rather you walked in knowing roughly what it costs.
Hastings-based, across Hawke's Bay. We've been doing this since 2020 and we know the local housing stock. Water filtration sits alongside our full range of plumbing services.
Water filtration FAQs
Do I actually need a water filter in Hawke's Bay?
On town supply it's optional: the water's treated and safe to drink, so a filter is about taste, chlorine, and sediment, not safety. On a rainwater tank or bore it's closer to essential, because that water isn't treated and bacteria are a real risk. Not sure? We'll tell you straight whether it's worth it for your place.
How much does a water filter system cost to install in Hawke's Bay?
It depends on the system. An under-bench drinking filter runs around $700–800, a whole-house carbon filter starts from $1,200 installed, UV systems are around $3,000, and water softeners are $4,000–5,000. Reverse osmosis is around $2,000 under-bench. These are starting points. We confirm the price after we've seen your water and your house.
Do I need a whole-house system or just a kitchen filter?
If you only want clean drinking and cooking water, an under-bench kitchen filter is enough and it's the cheapest option. If you want filtered water through every tap and shower, for your skin, hair, and appliances, you need a whole-house system. On tank or bore water, go whole-house plus UV.
Does a water filter remove chlorine?
Yes. Carbon filters, whether under-bench or whole-house, remove the chlorine taste and smell from town water. That's the most common reason Hawke's Bay homeowners on town supply put one in.
Do water filters remove microplastics?
Carbon filters reduce the larger microplastic particles, but they don't catch the fine and nano-sized plastics. Reverse osmosis does: its membrane removes the vast majority of microplastics, including the tiny fragments other filters let through. For microplastics specifically, an under-bench RO system is the one to go for.
Do I need a UV filter for bore or tank water?
Usually, yes. Tank and bore water aren't treated the way town supply is, so bacteria are the real risk rather than taste. UV light kills those bugs. For tank or bore supply we'd normally recommend a whole-house filter paired with UV, but we test first to be sure.
How often do the filters need replacing?
Most filter cartridges need changing every 6 to 12 months depending on the system and how much water you use. UV systems also need their lamp replaced once a year. We'll tell you the schedule for your setup when we install it.
Will a water filter affect my water pressure?
A correctly sized system shouldn't leave you with a noticeable pressure drop. The trick is matching the filter's flow rate to your home's water demand, which is part of why we size it on site rather than quoting blind.
Get a water-filtration quote in Hawke's Bay
If you're thinking about filtered water, for drinking, for the whole house, or for tank or bore supply, get APlus on site and we'll give you the options and a real number. Call us on 06 870 6000 or send us a message and we'll sort a time to come and look.