Splashy sunsets, mild winters and year-round sunshine make the Sonoran Desert a great place to live.

But the hard water that comes with it? That’s a whole different story.

“The first thing I’ll hear [from customers] is how hard the water is,” said Matthew McBride. He’s the CEO and founder of Glacier Springs Water, a residential water filtration and treatment company. “And they’re not crazy. It is extremely hard.”

Arizona residents know the telltale signs: calcium buildup on faucets, stubborn spots on dishes and water-using appliances that seem to wear out faster than expected.

But while hard water gets most of the attention, McBride said it’s not the only issue Arizona homeowners should be aware of.

Chlorine is often the bigger culprit behind many of the complaints he hears from customers, particularly those who have recently moved to Arizona.

“People come here and instantaneously, their hair and their skin are dry and itchy and burning, brittle, split ends,” he said.

Arizona’s hot climate requires water providers to use chlorine to keep drinking water safe as it travels through the system, he explained. As awareness of water quality has grown, homeowners have also become increasingly concerned about contaminants such as microplastics and so-called “forever chemicals.”

“I think most homeowners are concerned,” McBride said. “People are really worried about microplastics, and they are really worried about forever chemicals.”

From Arizona roots to water expertise

An Arizona native raised in the southern stretches of Phoenix, McBride grew up on a dairy farm in what is now Ahwatukee and spent much of his childhood working his family’s citrus grove in Hidden Valley. He still calls this area home.

“I’ve been stomping around these deserts literally since ’75,” he said. “I’ve been going to Headquarters since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.”

Those early experiences gave him an appreciation for the importance of water long before he spent nearly three decades in the water filtration and treatment industry. But it was a pair of wildfires that pushed him to find more customizable approaches.

In the aftermath of the Caldor Fire in California and the Lahaina Fire in Hawaii, the large home filtration company he worked for struggled to find solutions to remove chemicals such as benzene from water.

“Twice in a matter of four years … I couldn’t find a single water system on the market that could do the job,” McBride said.

The experience convinced him there was room for a different approach.

A custom approach

And that’s where McBride said his company stands apart. Unlike corporate water treatment businesses he once worked for or mass-produced systems purchased at a big box store, Glacier Springs systems are custom-made and assembled locally.

The company designs systems around the specific needs and budget of each property. Some homeowners rely on municipal water systems, while others draw water from private wells. McBride said mineral content, hardness and other water-quality factors can differ dramatically depending on the source.

“Every single one of my systems is hand-built in Phoenix using nothing but American-made parts and media,” McBride said.

Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all system, Glacier Springs works with both municipal and well-water customers, customizing solutions based on the unique characteristics of each water source.

“You give me a problem in water, and if it’s solvable within the confines of science, I will solve it,” McBride said.