How it works
A phone call, four photos, one price in writing, and one visit: the install. Here's every step, and exactly what can change a price.
The City Water Package is $3,299 installed, with standard installation by our plumbers. There is no sales visit: the install is our only visit before the work is done.
The process, step by step
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You reach out
Send the form, or call or text (773) 312-7042. From 8am to 9pm, we usually text within about a minute and call within 5 minutes. Sent it late at night? We'll reach out after 8am.
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Your Free Water Check
A 10 to 15 minute call with Dom, the owner. On city water, we pull up your town's water quality report together. On a private well, we set up a real water test first. If you don't need a system, we'll say so.
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The photo check
Instead of a sales visit, you text us 4 photos: where your water line comes in (with the meter), the spot nearby where the system would sit, under your kitchen sink, and the countertop next to it. Our plumbers review them, so install day has no surprises.
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Your written quote
One price, what's included, and anything that could change it, listed before you sign. It usually arrives within 15 minutes of the call. Take as long as you like. When you're ready, you book your install date by paying the first 50%.
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Install day
Our plumbers install it in about 4 to 5 hours. Your water is off for about 1 to 2 hours of that. If something comes up that your photos couldn't show, our plumbers stop and we get your OK in writing before any extra work.
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Tested, then the second half
We run 4 water tests in front of you, show you how everything works, and leave you the results. The other 50% is due once the install passes our checklist and you've signed off.
Getting ready for install day
- Clear about 3 feet around where the water comes in.
- Empty the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
- An adult needs to be home the whole time.
- Fill a pitcher before the water goes off.
- Keep pets in another room.
- Tell us about parking, gates or door codes.
We bring the salt for the first fill.
What can change a price
Our published price covers a standard install. These are the things that can add to it. Anything we can see in your photos is priced into your quote before you sign, and we never add anything without your written OK.
- The drain is more than 6 feet awayfrom where the system will sit, so we need a longer drain run or a small pump.
- No grounded outlet within 6 feetThe control valve needs power.
- Old galvanized steel pipeat the connection point, which needs transition fittings or a short section of new pipe.
- Water pressure under 25 or over 80 psiHigh pressure needs a pressure regulator. Low pressure, we flag before anything else.
- A faucet hole in granite or quartzfor the drinking-water faucet, drilled with a diamond bit.
- Iron over 0.3 ppmneeds iron treatment ahead of the softener, quoted separately.
- Hardness over 25 grains, or a large householdneeds a bigger system, quoted separately.
- Chloramine in your waterinstead of chlorine. We are confirming with our supplier which carbon handles it, and we make no taste or smell promise until then. If a different carbon changes the price, it goes on your written quote.
- Long drain routingsuch as sump discharge or drilling through concrete.
- A drinking-water line to your fridge or ice makerwhich takes an extra tubing run.
Not included
- Drywall, painting or finish carpentry.
- Work on the city's service line. We only work on the house side of the meter.
- Hauling away an old softener you own. Disconnecting it is included.
- Returning a rented unit. The company you rent from picks it up.
Septic systems
Illinois rules send softener rinse water to its own seepage area instead of the septic system (Private Sewage Disposal Code, Section 905.20). If you're on septic, we confirm the drain route before we quote.
Our install standard
We hold our work to a written standard. Every install is checked against it.
9 photos from every job
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The finished system All the tanks and the bypass valve in one shot
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Pipe connections Close enough to see the pipe material
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The drain air gap With a tape measure in frame showing the gap
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Inside the salt tank Safety float and salt level
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The valve display Programmed to your water
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The drinking-water faucet running With the dissolved-solids meter reading visible
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Water pressure Gauge readings before and after
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Your main shutoff So any future service call starts in the right place
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Your signed sign-off sheet You approve the job before we call it done
4 water tests before we leave
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Softened water Hardness at a tap after a full recharge cycle must read 0 to 1 grain.
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Drinking water Dissolved solids at the RO faucet must be under 10% of your tap water.
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Leak check Five minutes under full pressure with no drip at any joint, checked by hand with a dry paper towel.
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Salt draw We watch the system pull salt water during the recharge, so we know it works.
A written quote first
Everything that could change your price is listed before you sign. If something new comes up on install day, we stop and get your OK in writing.
Half now, half when it passes
50% when you book, and the other 50% only once the install has passed our checklist.
Copper inside Chicago
Inside city limits, we use copper pipe for every connection we make.
Ready for step one?
Tell us where you live and where your water comes from. We'll do the rest on a short call.
Prefer to talk now?
Get your Free Water Check
A 10 to 15 minute phone call about your water and your price. No home visit.