Drinking water
Reverse osmosis, included with every whole-home softener
Reverse osmosis comes as part of the ZeroGrain One, installed together with the whole-home softener, not on its own. The softener treats the whole house; the RO tap is for the water you drink.
Drinking water
The drinking-water tap that comes with it
Five-Stage Reverse Osmosis
Five stages, a storage tank and its own tap, under the kitchen sink.
The drinking-water stage of the ZeroGrain One, for the water you drink and cook with. It is fed off the softened line so the membrane is not fighting hardness, and it comes with the system rather than being sold on afterward.
Best for: anyone who wants the drinking-water tap that comes with the ZeroGrain One
Details and specs →
HW800 AlkaPro Tankless RO
7 stages, made on demand, no bulky tank under your sink.
Tankless reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink. Because it is tankless you get water on demand and your under-sink cabinet back, and a built-in alkaline stage adds calcium and magnesium before the tap.
Best for: homes that want the drinking-water tap without a storage tank, installed with a whole-home softener
Details and specs →Worth knowing
Why this matters
What an RO system is
Reverse osmosis pushes water through a membrane, then stores the result in a small tank under the sink, or makes it on demand on a tankless unit, feeding a dedicated faucet. You cook and fill glasses from that tap; the rest of the house runs on softened water.
Sediment and carbon stages sit ahead of the membrane, and anything that reaches the dedicated faucet has been through all of them.
Why it pairs with softening
RO membranes come with feed-water limits on hardness. Fed with softened water a membrane is not fighting scale, which is why RO goes at the end of the line, after softening.
That is why the two go in together, and reverse osmosis is not sold on its own. On Lake Michigan supply at about 8 grains, the call tells you plainly whether the whole-home system is worth it for your house.
What maintenance looks like
Pre- and post-filters change every six to twelve months depending on the model, which the quote names; the membrane every three to five years. It is a fifteen-minute job the plumber can do on a scheduled visit, or we show you how to do it yourself. No service contract is required.
Reverse osmosis is part of the ZeroGrain One, $3,950 installed. The quote names the exact models, and installation by a licensed plumbing contractor is included in that price.
The five-stage unit, an illustration rather than a photograph. The model is named on your quote.
The five-stage unit
What reverse osmosis installation involves
The unit goes under the kitchen sink, or wherever the drinking tap goes, with a pressurized storage tank so the tap is not waiting on the membrane. An independent licensed Wisconsin plumbing contractor makes three connections: the dedicated faucet, a drain saddle and a cold-water tie-in, and pulls any required permit in the plumber’s own name. It is fed off the softened line, so the membrane stays inside its feed-water limits.
It is the drinking-water stage inside the ZeroGrain One, $3,950 installed with the softening and carbon tank, rather than an upsell after the quote. The install date is set once the equipment is in hand and approved for use in Wisconsin (SPS 384).
Quick-connect fittings and widely available replacement stages keep the upkeep simple, and the unit’s full specifications are on the specifications page.
Color matched
Pick a faucet that matches your kitchen
The drinking-water faucet is the only part of this system you actually see, so it comes in four finishes. Tell us which one on the call.
Town by town
What your supply means for the kitchen tap
Each town’s supply and published hardness, from the utility’s own pages, and where reverse osmosis fits on that water. Town names link to the full page, which names and links the source.
Every town’s supply, all thirty-three towns →
| Town | Supply | Published hardness | Where reverse osmosis fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waukesha | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| Pewaukee | Municipal wells | 16–22 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Brookfield | Municipal wells | 23–34 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Elm Grove | Two supplies: see page | 23–34 grains per gallon | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Delafield | Two supplies: see page | 14–23 grains per gallon | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Hartland | Municipal wells | about 23 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Oconomowoc | Municipal wells | 19–25 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Sussex | Municipal wells | about 17.5 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| New Berlin | Two supplies: see page | about 8 grains per gallon on city water, 18–32 on old city wells | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Menomonee Falls | Two supplies: see page | 7–9 grains per gallon on lake water, 27–32 on village wells | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Muskego | Two supplies: see page | Not published by the utility | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Mukwonago | Municipal wells | 22–23 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Whitefish Bay | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| Fox Point | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| Glendale | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| Wauwatosa | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| Milwaukee | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| West Allis | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| Greenfield | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| Shorewood | Lake Michigan | about 8 grains per gallon | About 8 grains: the RO tap comes with the whole-home softener, and the call tells you plainly whether softening is worth it here. |
| River Hills | Two supplies: see page | No single figure; two supplies | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Bayside | Two supplies: see page | No single figure; two supplies | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Franklin | Two supplies: see page | Not published by the utility | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Oak Creek | Lake Michigan | Not published by the utility | No published figure; lake water: the call tells you plainly whether the whole-home system, RO tap included, is worth it. |
| Mequon | Two supplies: see page | about 8 grains per gallon | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Cedarburg | Municipal wells | 21–24 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Thiensville | Two supplies: see page | about 8 grains per gallon | Two supplies, so it depends on the address. The call starts with which one your street is on. |
| Grafton | Municipal wells | about 22 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Port Washington | Lake Michigan | Not published by the utility | No published figure; lake water: the call tells you plainly whether the whole-home system, RO tap included, is worth it. |
| Germantown | Municipal wells | 24 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Richfield | Private wells only | No utility figure; every home is on a private well | The call asks for any lab result you already have; softening first, then reverse osmosis at the sink. |
| West Bend | Municipal wells | 25–31 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
| Hartford | Municipal wells | 18–22 grains per gallon | Hard groundwater: soften first, then reverse osmosis at the sink, so the membrane is not fighting hardness. |
Questions
Reverse osmosis questions
Anything that is not here, ask it on the call.
Do I need a water softener if I have reverse osmosis?
They do different jobs. Reverse osmosis treats one tap; softening treats the whole house, the water heater and the appliances. On well water the softener goes first, so the membrane is fed softened water. On Lake Michigan supply at about 8 grains, softening matters less, and the call tells you so plainly.
Is reverse osmosis water safe to drink?
Reverse osmosis is not a safety treatment and we do not market it as one; what it is rated for is on the manufacturer’s sheet for the model on your quote. On a private well, the state-certified lab tests for bacteria and nitrates come first. We can point you to them, and they are not something we sell.
Can reverse osmosis be added to a softener I already have?
It comes as part of the ZeroGrain One, $3,950 installed with the softening and carbon tank. Installation by a licensed plumbing contractor is in that price.
Free quote, by phone
The drinking-water tap is one short call away.
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