Installing a softener on Pewaukee's City or Village water
Two Pewaukee questions come before install day: which utility feeds your tap, and whether your house drains to the Waukesha sewer. Once those are settled, the plumber's visit follows a set order and ends with a zero at your tap.
Call (262) 829-5961Mon to Fri, 7am to 5pmSettle two questions before a date is set
First, which water you have: the City's East Side system, the City's West Side and Highlands system, the Village system or a private well. The City publishes 338 and 345 mg/L for its two areas, the Village measured 280 to 380, and a private well reads whatever your lab report says.
Second, where the softener's drain water ends up. A house that discharges to the Waukesha sewer falls under Waukesha's softener rule, which calls for optimization by a company on Waukesha's approved list. That visit may carry its own charge from the optimizer, so raise it when you call.
Install day in a Pewaukee house, in order
First comes a hardness test at your tap, with nothing hooked up yet. Any old softener is disconnected and pulled out next. Then the new softener and the brine tank beside it are set at the point where your water service line enters, and the bypass gets connected.
The softener's drain line is routed down to a drain and stops short of it, so an air gap stays open between pipe and drain. Last, a reverse-osmosis drinking tap goes onto the kitchen sink. Then your tap is checked again, and again if needed, until hardness reads zero; that is when the visit ends.
Why the drain connection needs a plumbing license
Wisconsin counts the spot where that drain line meets your drain as plumbing work (Wis. Stat. ch. 145). So the installation is a job for a Wisconsin plumbing contractor, licensed by the state, and our part stops at quoting, sizing, supplying the system and lining up the plumber.
Where it sits in a Pewaukee home
A softener lives where the water service comes in. That might be the basement, a utility room or even the garage, as long as there is power and a drain nearby. Describe that corner when you call, including any old unit standing in it.
Common questions
Which number is the softener set to?
The one read at your tap on install day. Pewaukee's published figures tell us what to expect, anywhere from 16.4 to 22.2 grains depending on the system, but the reading in your house decides the setting.
Does the Waukesha sewer rule apply to a new softener?
Yes. Waukesha says its rule covers any softener in use on that sewer, new ones included, and the optimizing has to be done by a company on its approved list. Raise it before you sign so the extra step is not a surprise.
Does the drinking tap need its own appointment?
No. The softener's visit covers it: the same plumber fits the reverse-osmosis tap at your kitchen sink, so nobody has to come back.