Serving Chicago & the suburbs

(773) 312-7042 info@chicagohomewater.com
Chicago Home Water Water filtration & softening for Chicago homes
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Whole-house water filtration and softening in Chicago and the suburbs

Know your water.
Know your price.

Whole-house water softening and filtration for Chicago and the suburbs. The price is on this page, our plumbers do the work, and nobody sells you anything at your kitchen table.

City Water Package w/ Reverse Osmosis

$3,299installed

A whole-home softener with carbon, plus a drinking-water faucet at your kitchen sink. Tax and standard install included.

Get your Free Water Check

A 10 to 15 minute phone call about your water and your price. No home visit.

Your water comes from
Do you own the home?

Rather not check the box? Call or text (773) 312-7042 instead.

From 8am to 9pm, we usually text within about a minute and call within 5 minutes.

  • One published price, in writing
  • Our plumbers install every system
  • No in-home sales pitch

At a glance

Chicago Home Water installs whole-home water softening and carbon filtration, with an under-sink reverse osmosis drinking-water system, for single-family homes in Chicago and the suburbs, at a published price of $3,299 installed (from $4,499 for private wells and water over 25 grains per gallon).

What it is
Whole-house water filtration and softening, installed where your water comes in, plus a drinking-water faucet at your kitchen sink.
Price
$3,299 installed for the City Water Package: the whole-home softener with carbon filtration, a 5-stage under-sink reverse osmosis drinking-water system, standard installation, the permit where your town requires one, and tax. Private wells and water over 25 grains per gallon start at $4,499, quoted in writing after a water test. What is included and what can change it.
Who it is for
Single-family homeowners. We don't serve renters or most condos.
Where
Chicago and the suburbs in Cook, DuPage, Will, Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Lake counties. See the towns we serve.
How it starts
A 10 to 15 minute Free Water Check call, then four photos of your setup. There is no sales visit: the install is the only visit to your home.
Installed by
Our plumbers. We test the system in front of you and show you how it works before we leave.
Owner
Dom, who makes the sales calls himself.
Contact
(773) 312-7042, calls and texts from 8am to 9pm. Email info@chicagohomewater.com.
Status
A new, locally owned company.

Prices confirmed October 14, 2026. Water facts last checked October 15, 2026.

Start with your water

What your home needs depends on where its water comes from. Most Chicagoland homes fall into one of two groups.

City water from Lake Michigan

7.6 to 8.8grains per gallon

Chicago and about 120 suburbs drink Lake Michigan water treated by the city. Every result in the city's 2025 report passed, and the report also lists three monitoring and notification violations (explained on the city water page). The water is hard enough to leave white crust on faucets, and the city adds chlorine, about 1 part per million, to keep it clean on the way to you.

  • The chlorine taste and smell: carbon cuts it down.
  • Scale on fixtures, spots on dishes, buildup in your water heater: softening takes care of it.
  • Lead: the city's 90th-percentile result was 8.2 to 9.4 parts per billion, under the federal action level of 15, but some individual homes tested above it. The city counts about 412,000 lead or suspected-lead service lines. A softener doesn't remove lead. Start with the city's free test of your own tap.

Sources: City of Chicago's 2025 Water Quality Report, the city's answer on hardness, the Department of Water Management, the city's service line inventory.

City water, explained

Well water and hard-water towns

12 to 42grains per gallon

Many collar-county towns pump their water from deep wells, and it runs a lot harder than lake water. Private wells vary even more from house to house, so we test before we quote.

  • Heavy scale that comes back fast, even after you clean it.
  • Orange or brown stains usually mean iron.
  • Radium occurs naturally in some deep wells in northern Illinois. You can't see, taste or smell it, so a lab test is the only way to know.

Sources: each town's water quality report (below) and the Illinois Department of Public Health radium fact sheet.

Well water, explained

Hardness by town

  • Chicago Lake Michigan 7.6 to 8.8 grains per gallon
  • Joliet west of Midland Ave. 12 grains per gallon
  • Oswego village wells 15 grains per gallon
  • Joliet east of Midland Ave. 22 grains per gallon
  • Batavia city wells 25 grains per gallon
  • Lockport city wells 36 to 42 grains per gallon
Hardness, grains per gallon (gpg) 25 gpg: above this, we size a bigger system Past that line

Figures from each town's own water quality information (tap a town to see it). Where a town prints a range, the bar is drawn to the middle of it. Numbers change year to year, so check your town's latest report, or ask us to pull it for you. Water facts last checked October 15, 2026.

We'll look up your number

Every water utility publishes a yearly water quality report. On your Free Water Check, we pull up your town's report with you and walk through the four lines that matter: hardness, chlorine or chloramine, lead, and whether anything was over a limit or an action level.

Get my Free Water Check

What you're getting

The City Water Package is two systems installed together: one where your water comes in, and one at your kitchen sink. Here is each part and what it does.

Diagram of the City Water Package Water comes in from the street to a metered valve at the softener and carbon filtration, with a salt tank beside it. Softened water goes on to your indoor taps, and a branch feeds a 5-stage drinking-water system with a small storage tank in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. A separate small faucet on the counter serves the drinking water. WHERE YOUR WATER COMES IN YOUR KITCHEN Kitchen counter Water in salt water To your indoor taps 1 2 Metered valve 3 Softener + carbon Salt tank 5 Drinking-water faucet 4 Drinking-water system 5 stages, under your sink Storage tank
  • Water in
  • Softened water
  • Drinking water
Simplified diagram, not to scale. Your written quote names the exact models.

  1. Softener and carbon

    Where your water comes in. Resin takes out the hardness minerals that leave white crust, and carbon reduces the chlorine taste and smell.

  2. Metered valve

    The control valve on top of the softener. It counts the water your household actually uses and refreshes the resin when it needs it, instead of on a fixed schedule.

  3. Salt tank

    A separate tank beside the softener. The valve draws salt water from it to refresh the resin. Check it about once a month and top it up when it runs low. The first fill of salt is included.

  4. Drinking-water system

    A 5-stage reverse osmosis system in the cabinet under your kitchen sink. It filters the softened water once more for drinking and cooking, and a small tank keeps a supply ready.

  5. Drinking-water faucet

    A small separate faucet on your sink for drinking and cooking. Your regular tap keeps running softened water.

Everything above is part of the one published price. Both systems also connect to a nearby drain, and we bring the salt for the first fill.

See the price How install day works

The price, before anyone visits

Many water treatment companies only give you a number at the end of an in-home appointment. Ours is right here, and it is the same number we put in writing.

City Water Package w/ Reverse Osmosis

For most homes on city or village water

$3,299 installed
  • Whole-home softener with carbon filtration Where your water comes in, it takes out the hardness minerals that leave white crust, and carbon filtration reduces the chlorine taste and smell at every indoor tap.
  • Metered valve and salt tank The valve recharges the system based on how much water you actually use. First fill of salt included.
  • 5-stage drinking-water system Reverse osmosis under your kitchen sink, with its own faucet for drinking and cooking.
  • Standard installation By our plumbers, with a bypass valve, copper pipe inside Chicago, and the permit where your town requires one.
  • Tested before we leave We test your softened water and your drinking water in front of you and leave you the results.

Tax included. 50% when you book, 50% when the install passes our checklist.

Get my Free Water Check What can change a price

Well & Hard Water Package

from $4,499

For private wells and for towns with water over 25 grains hard. We test your water first, then size the system to it: more softening resin or a two-tank setup, plus iron treatment if your test calls for it. Quoted in writing before you decide anything.

Well water, explained

Optional add-on

Add drinking water

+$699

A 5-stage reverse osmosis system under your kitchen sink, with its own faucet. Optional for this package; the City Water Package already includes it.

Drinking water, explained

Prices confirmed October 14, 2026.

Photos from a recent install we completed

A blue-tinted water softener on the left with a black salt tank in front of it, and a tall stainless carbon filter tank on the right, with a blue sediment filter on the pipe above and a water heater beside them.
Skokie, October 2026. The softener (left) and a carbon filter tank (right), with a sediment pre-filter on the main line and the salt tank in front.
The digital control valve on top of a blue water softener tank, with a stainless carbon filter tank, a gas water heater and the black salt tank behind and beside it in a utility closet.
Skokie, October 2026. The softener's control valve, with the carbon tank and the water heater behind it.

Every home is set up a little differently. This one has a separate softener and carbon tank. What goes in yours depends on your water, and your written quote lists every part.

How buying from us is different

Same goal, different ways of getting there. Here's what each route usually looks like for a homeowner.

Chicago Home WaterTypical in-home dealerTypical national brandStore-bought, DIY
Price before anyone visits Yes. $3,299 installed, on this page Usually given at the end of a home visit Usually quoted after an in-home test Box price only; plumber, parts and permit extra
Sales presentation in your home None. A phone call and 4 photos Typically part of the visit Typically part of the visit None
Drinking-water faucet Included Varies by quote Varies by quote Bought separately
Who installs Our plumbers, checked against our 9-photo standard Varies by company Varies by company You, or a plumber you hire
Permit, where required Included Varies by company Varies by company Up to you to arrange
When you pay 50% to book, 50% when the install passes our checklist Varies by company Varies by company At checkout, before install

General patterns in the Chicago market, not claims about any one company. Ask any company these same questions.

Our install standard

We hold our work to a written standard. Every install is checked against it.

9 photos from every job

  • The finished system All the tanks and the bypass valve in one shot
  • Pipe connections Close enough to see the pipe material
  • The drain air gap With a tape measure in frame showing the gap
  • Inside the salt tank Safety float and salt level
  • The valve display Programmed to your water
  • The drinking-water faucet running With the dissolved-solids meter reading visible
  • Water pressure Gauge readings before and after
  • Your main shutoff So any future service call starts in the right place
  • Your signed sign-off sheet You approve the job before we call it done

4 water tests before we leave

  • Softened water Hardness at a tap after a full recharge cycle must read 0 to 1 grain.
  • Drinking water Dissolved solids at the RO faucet must be under 10% of your tap water.
  • Leak check Five minutes under full pressure with no drip at any joint, checked by hand with a dry paper towel.
  • 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.

How it works

Three steps, and only one of them happens at your house.

  1. Free Water Check, by phone

    10 to 15 minutes

    Dom calls you. On city water, we pull up your town's water quality report together. On a well, we set up a real water test first. If you don't need a system, we'll tell you.

  2. Photo check and written quote

    Same day, in most cases

    You text us 4 photos of your setup instead of hosting a sales visit. We send one price in writing, with anything that could change it listed up front.

  3. Professional installation

    Install day

    Our plumbers install it in about 4 to 5 hours. We test your water in front of you and show you how the system works before we leave. The second half is due once the install passes our checklist.

The full process, step by step

Dom, the owner, smiling outdoors on a lakeside trail

A local owner, and a price on the page

Hi, I'm Dom. I'm from Chicago, and my family works in the local trades. I started Chicago Home Water because buying water treatment here often starts with an in-home appointment, and the price is the last thing you hear.

I'd rather you see the price first. So it's on this page, I make the calls myself, and every install has to pass our checklist.

We're a new company, and I won't pretend otherwise. If yours is one of our first homes, you'll have my cell number before, during and after the install.

Dom, owner

More about us

Questions people ask first

How much does water softener installation cost in Chicago?

Our City Water Package is $3,299 installed. That covers a whole-home softener with carbon filtration, a 5-stage drinking-water system at your kitchen sink, the permit where your town requires one, and tax. Homes on private wells or on water over 25 grains per gallon start at $4,499, quoted in writing after a water test.

Read what is included and what can change it.

What's included in the $3,299 price?

The City Water Package covers three things:

  • A whole-home system where your water comes in: it softens the water, and carbon filtration cuts down the chlorine taste and smell. It comes with a metered valve and a salt tank, plus the first fill of salt.
  • A 5-stage reverse osmosis drinking-water system under your kitchen sink, with its own faucet.
  • A standard installation by our plumbers, the permit where your town requires one, and water tests before we leave.

Tax is included. A few things can change a price, and they're all listed on How it works. Any that apply to your home go on your written quote before you sign.

Does someone come to my house before the install?

No. Instead of a sales visit, you text us four photos:

  • where your water line comes in, with the meter
  • the spot nearby where the system would sit
  • under your kitchen sink
  • your countertop next to the sink

Our plumbers review them before install day, so there are no surprises. The install is the only visit.

Does a water softener remove lead?

No, and we won't tell you it does. In Chicago, lead comes from older service lines and plumbing inside homes, not from the treatment plant.

If lead is your concern, start with a real test of your own tap. Chicago residents can request a free lead test kit from the city.

Whether a drinking-water system reduces lead depends on its certification. We won't say ours does until the exact model's certification listing shows it, and we send you that listing before you buy.

Do I pay a deposit?

Yes, in two halves. You pay 50% when you book your install date, and the other 50% when the install passes our checklist: the 9 photos, the 4 water tests and your sign-off. Tax is included in the price.

Your written quote shows both amounts and when each one is due. Read it before you pay anything.

If you cancel before we order your equipment, we refund your booking payment in full. If we can't go ahead with your install, we refund it in full.

All questions and answers

Find out what your water needs

Tell us where you live and where your water comes from. We'll do the rest on a short call.

  1. A text, then a call From Dom, the owner. We call from 8am to 9pm, usually within 5 minutes.
  2. Your water, explained Your town's report or your well test, in plain English.
  3. One price, in writing After you text us 4 photos of your setup. No home visit.

Prefer to talk now?

Call or text (773) 312-7042

Get your Free Water Check

A 10 to 15 minute phone call about your water and your price. No home visit.

Your water comes from
Do you own the home?

Rather not check the box? Call or text (773) 312-7042 instead.

From 8am to 9pm, we usually text within about a minute and call within 5 minutes.

Call Free Water Check