Our story
Named for the number we leave you with
ZeroGrain Water is a Wisconsin company selling one flagship system, and the line around it, across Waukesha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Washington counties. The name is the standard the work has to meet: on a softener install, the plumber retests your tap for zero grains per gallon once the system is running.
33 towns · four counties in southeastern Wisconsin
Why this company exists
The number comes first, and the price is already on the page.
Water treatment is an industry where the number you are quoted depends on how long somebody has been sitting at your kitchen table. That is the part we took out. The price is published, the quote is one short call and one itemized page by email, and there is no visit to sit through to get it.
What replaces the pitch is arithmetic. Your town publishes a hardness figure, or your well returns one from a lab, and the system is sized from that, your household and your peak flow. Every model is named on the quote, and the whole thing holds for 30 days.
Installation is by an independent licensed Wisconsin plumbing contractor working under a responsible master plumber, with any required permit pulled in the plumber’s own name. Softener drains and reverse-osmosis connections are plumbing under Wisconsin law, so a licensed plumber makes them, rather than treating the system as an appliance dropped in a corner.
What we stand on
Three things we do not bend on
Every one of these is written on the quote or the agreement, not a promise on a call.
3 days
To change your mind
Three business days to cancel after you sign, as a written term of our agreement. Two copies of the cancellation notice come with the contract: filled in, dated, ready to mail.
0
Balance due before the install is complete
You do not pay the balance until the system is in, running and your water is retested at your tap. Full payment at completion is written into the agreement.
30 days
The quote holds
One page, itemized, good for 30 days, with every model named so you can compare it against anyone. Nobody will ask you to sign tonight for a discount.
What we do not do
Four things you will not get from us
Most of what makes this industry unpleasant is optional. These are the parts we left out on purpose.
No in-home demo
No soap trick at your sink, no three-hour presentation. One short call, about fifteen minutes, and a page by email.
No price that moves
$3,950 installed is on the page before anyone speaks to you. It does not fall if you say no twice.
No health claims
Softening removes hardness minerals. It is not a health or safety treatment and we do not market it as one, here or on the call.
No date we cannot keep
The ZeroGrain One is on our own pallet. The rest of the line is supplied to order. Every install date is set once the equipment is in hand and approved for use in Wisconsin (Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 384), never before.
Where we work
Thirty-three towns, four counties
Every town has its own page with its utility, its source and its published hardness.
Waukesha County
Twelve towns, and no single number covers them. Brookfield publishes 23 to 34 grains and Hartland about 23 from their own wells; Waukesha and most of Menomonee Falls run about eight on purchased Lake Michigan supply. And the 40,000-plus private wells the county itself counts answer to nobody’s annual report.
Towns we serve →
Milwaukee County
Most of the towns we serve here run on Lake Michigan water. Milwaukee Water Works and the North Shore Water Commission both publish about eight grains, the softest tap water in this market, and Milwaukee’s utility says softeners are not necessary for residential use. So the honest first step is usually a drinking-water tap. Oak Creek and Franklin publish no figure at all, and River Hills is still mostly on private wells.
Towns we serve →
Ozaukee County
Cedarburg publishes 21 to 24 grains out of deep wells and says outright that it does not soften, and Grafton’s wells run about 22. The Mequon Water Utility sells Lake Michigan water, about eight grains, to connected homes in Mequon and Thiensville, and most of Mequon is on private wells. Port Washington treats its own lake water and publishes no figure.
Towns we serve →
Washington County
Some of the hardest published water in the region and some of the least documented. Germantown publishes 24 grains across six wells, West Bend’s sewer utility gives 25 to 31 as the right softener setting, and Hartford’s own figure is 18 to 22. Richfield has no utility at all: the whole village is on private wells, by the Village Board’s own choice.
Towns we serve →Free quote, by phone
Start with your number, not a sales visit.
One short call, about fifteen minutes. We size from your town’s published number, or your well’s lab result, and your household, and you end the call with a one-page itemized quote.
- Free quote by phone
- Installed by a licensed WI plumber
- Softeners retested to zero