Whole-Apartment Water Filter in Narrabeen: Tying a 3-Stage System Into a Unit's Own Supply

The situation

A client in a Narrabeen unit got in touch about his skin. He has sensitive skin, and after years living in Victoria and then Norway, he’d noticed a difference since moving back to Sydney and had a suspicion it could be something in the mains water here. Whether or not that was the cause, he wanted a three-stage water filter system installed, and not just at the kitchen sink. He wanted every tap in the apartment, shower included, running filtered water.

What we found

We’d measured and fitted filter systems before, but always in houses with straightforward access to the water service. This was the first time we’d been asked to do it for a whole apartment, so before saying yes, we needed to understand his unit’s plumbing properly: where the isolation valve was, how the supply pipe ran through the walls, and whether there was a sensible spot for the filter housings without eating into his storage.

The bathroom and laundry gave us what we needed. The unit had its own isolation valve and its own copper pipework feeding it, not a shared building riser, which meant the job was a matter of plumbing experience rather than something the apartment made impossible.

The fix

We measured the correct sizing for a three-stage filter system and worked out where it would physically fit in his cupboards without affecting the storage he was using. Connecting to the water supply meant opening up a section of cupboard, chipping back render and a small amount of brickwork to expose the copper pipe feeding the unit.

Once the pipe was exposed, we connected the filter system inline and ran the plumbing back into the copper supply, so the water leaving the filter system feeds every outlet in the unit rather than just one tap. The filter housing sits in the cupboard space we’d identified, with no impact on what he can still store there.

The outcome

The apartment now runs on fully filtered water from a three-stage system, every tap and the shower included, not just the kitchen. The filters will be changed once a year to keep the water quality at the level the system’s designed for, removing the chemicals added during Sydney’s water treatment process. He was thrilled with the result.

It’s a job that starts with a straightforward question, “can you do this in a unit?”, and the honest answer is: usually, once we’ve had a proper look at where your isolation valve and supply pipe actually are.

Suspect Sydney’s mains water might be behind something you’ve noticed? Our water filtration team can assess whether a whole-of-apartment filter system will work in your unit, covering the Northern Beaches and North Shore including Narrabeen. For the general question, see our guide on installing a whole water filter system in an apartment.