Privacy policy

Last updated: October 11, 2026.

This policy explains what information Flat Rate Water Softeners ("we", "us") collects when you visit this website, call or text us, book a water test, or have equipment installed or serviced, and what we do with it. It applies to this website and to the conversations and appointments that start from it.

Who we are

Flat Rate Water Softeners installs and services water treatment equipment, including water softeners, filtration and reverse osmosis systems. You can reach us using the details on our Contact page (/contact).

Information you give us

When you ask for a quote, book an appointment or contact us, you give us your name, phone number, email address and the address of the property, along with what you tell us about your water and your household: how many people live there, whether the home is on a private well or city water, and the problems you are seeing. If you use an instant quote or sizing tool on this website, we keep the answers you entered, because they are what the price was calculated from. If you send us photos of your plumbing or existing equipment, we keep those with your job.

Information we record at your home

If we test your water, we record the results against the property: typically hardness in grains per gallon, iron, pH, total dissolved solids and chlorine, and anything else the test measured. When we install or service equipment we record its make, model, serial number, settings and install date, notes about the plumbing, and photos of the finished work. We use these records to service what we installed, to handle warranty claims, and to remind you when maintenance or salt is due. Photos of our work may be used on this website or in our marketing only without anything that identifies you or your address, unless you have agreed otherwise.

Information collected automatically

When you visit this website we record the pages you view, the site that referred you, the type of device and browser you use, and an approximate location derived from your IP address. A small identifier is stored in your browser so a returning visitor is not asked the same questions twice or shown the same popup again. It is not linked to you by name until you give us your details. See "Cookies, analytics and advertising" below.

Phone calls and our automated assistant

Calls to our business line may be answered by an automated assistant that uses an artificial, AI-generated voice, and calls may be recorded and transcribed. You are told this at the start of the call. We use recordings and transcripts to get your request right, to book and follow up on work, to resolve disputes and to train our staff. If you would rather not be recorded, tell us at the start of the call, or hang up and contact us another way.

How we use your information

We use your information to answer your enquiry, test your water, quote, schedule and perform the work, invoice and take payment, register equipment warranties with the manufacturer, provide service and maintenance reminders, deliver salt if you have arranged it, and follow up afterwards to make sure the system is working. We also use it to keep this website secure, to understand which pages are useful, to meet our legal, tax and accounting obligations, and, where you have agreed, to send you offers.

Text messages

We text you only if you asked us to, by ticking the consent box on one of our forms, by texting us first, or by asking us to on a call or at an appointment. Consent to receive texts is never a condition of buying anything. Message frequency varies and message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to any message to stop them and HELP for help. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties, except the messaging providers that deliver the messages on our behalf. Our full Text Messaging Terms are at /sms-terms.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as follows: with the companies that run parts of this business on our behalf (scheduling, payments, phone and text messaging, email, website hosting and accounting), and only what each needs to do its job; with an equipment manufacturer when we register a warranty on your behalf; with a financing company, but only if you choose to apply for financing through one; with a licensed subcontractor if part of your job needs one; when the law requires it or to protect the safety of our staff and customers; and with a buyer of our business, who would be bound by this policy. Payment card details are handled by our payment processor and are not stored on this website.

Cookies, analytics and advertising

Cookies and similar technologies are small files and identifiers a website stores in your browser. This website uses four kinds. Necessary ones keep the site working and secure and remember your cookie choices; they cannot be switched off. Functional ones remember that you have already seen a popup or started a form. Analytics ones count visits and show us which pages are useful, which may include tools such as Google Analytics. Advertising ones, if we use them, measure whether our ads led to an enquiry and may include tools from Google or Meta.

Where our cookie banner is shown, analytics and advertising cookies wait for your answer, and we pass your choice to Google through its Consent Mode so its tags respect it. You can change your answer at any time with the "Cookie choices" link at the bottom of every page, and you can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Some browsers send a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal; where your state’s law requires us to treat such a signal as an opt-out, we do.

How long we keep it

We keep enquiries that do not lead to work for as long as they are useful to follow up, and then delete or anonymise them. We keep job records, water test results and equipment records for as long as we may service that equipment or handle a warranty claim on it, and invoices and payment records for as long as tax and accounting law requires. Call recordings are kept for a shorter period unless they are needed to resolve a dispute.

How we protect it

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards, and access to customer records is limited to the people who need it to do their jobs. No website or system is perfectly secure, so please do not send us sensitive information, such as a full card number or a Social Security number, by text or email.

Your choices and rights

You can ask us what information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, except where we have to keep it, such as an invoice we are required to retain for tax. You can stop marketing texts by replying STOP and marketing emails with the unsubscribe link, and still receive messages about work you have booked.

Residents of some states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Virginia, have additional rights under their state privacy laws, such as the right to know the categories of information collected, to obtain a copy, to opt out of targeted advertising, and to appeal a decision about a request. Some of those laws apply only to businesses above a certain size, but we will respond to a reasonable request whichever state you live in. We will verify your identity before acting on a request, you may use an authorised agent, and we will not treat you differently for making one. To make a request, contact us using the details on our Contact page (/contact).

Children

This website and our services are meant for adults arranging work on a home or business. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13, and we will delete it if we learn that we have.

Other websites

This website may link to other sites, such as a financing company’s application, an equipment manufacturer, a review site or a map. Their own privacy policies apply to what you do there, and we are not responsible for them.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our business or the law changes. The date at the top shows when it last changed, and a significant change will be shown on this page before it takes effect.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your information can be sent to Flat Rate Water Softeners using the details on our Contact page (/contact).

The short answers