Water treatment · Mallorca
Mallorca's water is hard, and many fincas also draw it from a well or a cistern. We help with the three things people ask us most: stopping limescale throughout the house with a water softener, clean-tasting drinking water with reverse osmosis, and knowing what well or cistern water really needs. We test your water first, then tell you what is worth doing, with the regulations in hand. We are Joaquín and Juan, installing in Mallorca since 1998.
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Kinetico Premier Compact · Image: Kinetico
The official figure
You don't have to take anyone's word for it. Royal Decree (RD) 3/2023, Spain's drinking-water regulation, requires the town council or, where applicable, the operator of your supply network to publish the hardness, calcium, magnesium and potassium of each supply network, updated at least every six months, and the bulletins are reported to SINAC, the Ministry of Health's national drinking-water database. These figures come from there, network by network:
| Municipality | Supply network | Calcium (mg/L) | Magnesium (mg/L) | Hardness (mg/L CaCO₃) | °fH | °dH | Bulletin date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palma | Arteria de Levante / Son Tugores | 102 | 24 | 354 | 35 | 20 | 27/04/2026 |
| Palma | Arteria de Poniente / Son Anglada | 111 | 25 | 380 | 38 | 21 | 28/04/2026 |
| Alcúdia | Alcúdia y Port d'Alcúdia | 124 | 42 | 483 | 48 | 27 | 16/04/2026 |
| Andratx | Andratx, Port d'Andratx y S'Arracó | 24 | 2 | 68 | 7 | 4 | 01/06/2026 |
| Binissalem | Núcleo urbano | 110 | 40 | 439 | 44 | 25 | 26/01/2026 |
| Calvià | Santa Ponça | 102 | 28 | 370 | 37 | 21 | 25/03/2025 |
| Calvià | Peguera | 46 | 12 | 164 | 16 | 9 | 28/03/2026 |
| Capdepera | Cala Rajada | 150 | 51 | 585 | 58 | 33 | 01/06/2026 |
| Consell | Consell | 115 | 25 | 390 | 39 | 22 | 09/09/2026 |
| Felanitx | Portocolom | 59 | 56 | 378 | 38 | 21 | 27/01/2026 |
| Inca | Inca | 140 | 35 | 494 | 49 | 28 | 05/05/2026 |
| Llucmajor | Llucmajor | 78 | 54 | 417 | 42 | 23 | 07/04/2026 |
| Llucmajor | S'Arenal | 75 | 26 | 294 | 29 | 16 | 02/06/2026 |
| Manacor | Porto Cristo | 130 | 59 | 568 | 57 | 32 | 01/06/2026 |
| Marratxí | Sa Cabaneta y Pòrtol | 98 | 58 | 484 | 48 | 27 | 28/07/2026 |
| Muro | Muro | 32 | 12 | 129 | 13 | 7 | 15/09/2026 |
| Sant Llorenç des Cardassar | Sa Coma y s'Illot | 100 | 45 | 435 | 44 | 24 | 27/01/2026 |
| Santa Margalida | Can Picafort | 115 | 72 | 584 | 58 | 33 | 16/04/2026 |
| Santanyí | Cala d'Or | 98 | 60 | 492 | 49 | 28 | 27/01/2026 |
| Santanyí | Santanyí | 266 | 147 | 1,270 | 127 | 71 | 18/08/2026 |
| Son Servera | Cala Millor y Cala Bona | 140 | 46 | 539 | 54 | 30 | 20/07/2026 |
| Sóller | Zona alta | 50 | 6 | 150 | 15 | 8 | 17/03/2026 |
Source: SINAC, Spanish Ministry of Health (sinac.sanidad.gob.es), latest bulletin for each network, checked on 1 October 2026. Hardness is calculated from the calcium and magnesium in that same bulletin (CaCO₃ = 2.497 × Ca + 4.118 × Mg), because some networks report «total hardness» in °fH while labelling it mg/L. Conversion: 1 °fH = 10 mg/L CaCO₃ · 1 °dH ≈ 17.8 mg/L CaCO₃. A municipality can have several networks and the figure changes through the year; EMAYA, Palma's water company, describes its water as «hard and semi-hard, depending on the area and the time of year».
For context: RD 3/2023 gives total hardness a reference value of 500 mg/L (50 °fH), used to characterise water, not to say whether it is safe. Safe to drink and kind to your plumbing are two different things: of the 22 networks in the table, 17 are above 30 °fH, the figure above which Daikin asks for the water of its EKHHP hot-water heat pump to be treated; and, as installers, from about 15 °fH we already see scale in water heaters and taps. The softest, Andratx, lists the sea among its sources in SINAC, in other words desalinated water. Well water, in our own measurements, is around 60 °fH. That is why we always test the water at your tap before proposing anything.
Where the saving is
Limescale stays hidden until it has done its damage: it builds up wherever water is heated. In the water heater, the heat-pump cylinder and the washing machine element. A layer of scale is insulation sitting right between the heat and the water, and you pay for it on every bill.
Two figures with a source. First, a Battelle test commissioned by the Water Quality Research Foundation (an industry foundation, so read it as such): with water of about 44 °fH, a gas storage water heater rated at 80 % efficiency dropped to 72 % in two years; on softened water it stayed at 80 %. Second, a manufacturer's manual: Daikin asks for the water feeding its EKHHP hot-water heat pump to stay under 3 mmol/L of hardness (30 °fH) and, above that, to be softened or stabilised. In the table above, 17 of the 22 networks exceed that figure.
So when we install a heat pump for hot water, we also look at the water going into the cylinder. A heat pump only performs as well as its heat exchanger is clean.
What we install
They are not interchangeable, and you rarely need all three. We tell you which one your water calls for.
Removes limescale from the water entering the house and protects the water heater, heat pump, taps and appliances. Set so the water does not drop below 55 mg/L of hardness, the minimum RD 3/2023 asks of softened water.
Water softeners in Mallorca →A unit under the kitchen sink that removes salts, limescale and taste at the drinking tap. It is not compulsory: it is for people who want to stop carrying bottled water.
Reverse osmosis in Mallorca →Every well is different: salt, nitrates, iron or bacteria. First the lab analysis and the regulations, then only what your water needs for the use you will give it.
Well and cistern water →The regulations
A softener or an osmosis unit is not just another appliance: it touches the water you drink. RD 3/2023, article 46, requires a home treatment device not to endanger health, not to spoil the colour, smell or taste of the water, not to encourage microbial growth and not to release contaminants. It also sets which rules apply where:
For anyone looking it up: the old Orden SCO/3719/2005 is no longer in force. It was repealed by Orden SAS/1915/2009, that one by SSI/304/2013 and that one by RD 902/2018; the current rules are articles 43 to 46 of RD 3/2023.
And if the building is not purely residential (a hotel or an agroturismo, for example), the Legionella regulation RD 487/2022 asks for an assessment of whether a softener or a scale inhibitor is needed on the incoming water. What that regulation asks of the hot water is explained on Legionella in Mallorca.
No overselling
We say it plainly because it is the part people leave out. A water softener does not make water safe to drink: it removes hardness, nothing more. Manufacturers put it in their manuals: Kinetico, for example, states that its systems are for water that is already microbiologically safe. Nor is reverse osmosis compulsory: mains water that meets RD 3/2023 is drinkable, and osmosis improves taste and convenience.
Well water is different: it is never assumed to be drinkable without a lab analysis, and that word is not something an installer signs off. We install what the analysis says is needed; classifying the water is for the laboratory and the health authority.
How we work
Tell us where your water comes from (mains, well or cistern), send photos of the water inlet and where the unit would go, and the lab analysis if you have one.
We measure your water's hardness and check pressure, space and drainage. Nothing is sized without measuring.
Non-return valve, bypass and everything the CTE HS 4 requires, with the unit that fits: we fit every brand, and the one we recommend is Kinetico.
Salt, filters, membranes and disinfection at whichever interval is stricter, the regulations or your unit's manufacturer.
By area
The official hardness of each network, with its SINAC bulletin, and the case of each area: Alcúdia (48 °fH) · Can Picafort and Santa Margalida (58 °fH) · Porto Cristo (57 °fH) · Cala Millor and Son Servera (54 °fH) · Llucmajor (42 °fH) · Santanyí (127 °fH) · Cala d'Or (49 °fH) · Palma (35-38 °fH) · Marratxí (48 °fH) · Inca (49 °fH)
Common questions
You can check an official source: RD 3/2023 requires the town council or, where applicable, the operator of your supply network to publish the hardness at least every six months, and the bulletins go to SINAC, the Spanish Ministry of Health's database. The table on this page shows the latest figure for 22 Mallorca networks in mg/L CaCO₃, °fH and °dH: from about 7 °fH in Andratx, which lists the sea among its sources, to 127 °fH in Santanyí, and 17 of them are above 30 °fH. Well water is another story: in our measurements it is around 60 °fH. That is why we test your tap before proposing a unit.
It depends on what bothers you. If it is limescale on taps, shower screens, the water heater or the heat pump, you need a water softener where the water enters the house. If you want drinking water without the taste of lime or salt, reverse osmosis in the kitchen. In Mallorca the usual set-up is a softener for the whole house and, if you like, osmosis just for drinking. The softener is set so the water does not fall below 55 mg/L of hardness, the minimum RD 3/2023 asks of softened water.
No. A softener swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium, and that is where its job ends: it does not remove bacteria, nitrates or the salt of a brackish well. Manufacturers say so themselves: Kinetico writes that its systems are for microbiologically safe water. RD 3/2023 requires drinking water, among other things, to stay under 50 mg/L of nitrate and to be disinfected with residual disinfectant. If your finca runs on a well, start with a lab analysis.
Yes. RD 3/2023, article 46, requires the unit not to put health at risk, spoil the water or encourage microbes. At the house inlet, the Spanish building code CTE DB HS 4 applies: a non-return valve before the unit, a bypass so the water is never cut and a meter for the water the unit uses. At a tap, the UNE 149101 standard. The old Orden SCO/3719/2005 has been repealed since 2009. That is how we fit it in any home in Mallorca.
The saving is in hot water. In a Battelle test for the Water Quality Research Foundation (an industry study), a gas water heater went from 80 % to 72 % efficiency in two years on water of about 44 °fH, and stayed at 80 % on softened water. Daikin asks in the manual of its EKHHP hot-water heat pump for water under 3 mmol/L (30 °fH). According to SINAC, 17 of the 22 Mallorca networks in our table exceed that, so if you have or plan a heat pump, it is worth checking.
With a lab analysis, not with a device. Every well in Mallorca fails in its own way: some are salty, others carry nitrates from farmland, others iron. RD 3/2023 sets, for example, 250 mg/L of chloride and 200 mg/L of sodium as parametric values. With the results in hand we tell you what is needed and what is not, and water used only for irrigation is not treated like drinking water. It is all on our well and cistern water page.
Whatever is stricter between the regulations and your unit's manual, and it varies from one unit to another. For reverse osmosis, the manual sets how often the pre- and post-filters are changed and the product water is tested; the Kinetico softener manual says never to let the salt run out and to use proper softener salt.The drinking-water regulator for England and Wales warns that neglected units become a breeding ground for bacteria. If you are away from Mallorca part of the year, we can take care of it.
Yes, we work across the whole island and speak English, Spanish and German. We reply within 24-48 hours on working days. We are Joaquín and Juan, the two partners. No subcontractors. You can read client reviews on the JSL Google Maps listing.
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