The two supplies raise different questions, need different testing, and rarely call for the same equipment.
City water arrives already treated and disinfected. The complaints that follow it tend to involve taste and odor from disinfection byproducts, plus whatever hardness the source contributes.
Well water arrives untreated. Whatever the aquifer and the well itself contribute reaches the tap directly, which is why staining, odor, and sediment come up far more often on wells.
That difference shapes the testing. A well benefits from a broader look at iron, sulfide, sediment, and hardness, while a municipal supply is often about confirming hardness and characterizing taste and odor.
It also shapes the equipment. Sequencing matters much more on a well, where one stage has to protect the next. Copying a neighbor's system is how homeowners end up with equipment that does not match their water.
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