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 for Chicago city water

Every result in Chicago's 2025 water report passed, and lead is the one worth testing at your own tap. But the water runs about 8 grains hard, with chlorine added on the way to you. That's the crust on your faucets and the pool smell in the shower.

City Water Package w/ Reverse Osmosis

$3,299installed

Whole-home softening and 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.

Chicago's water report, in plain English

Chicago and about 120 suburbs drink Lake Michigan water treated by the city. Every year the city publishes a full report. These are the lines that matter for your home.

What the report showsWhat you noticeWhat we do about it
Hardness About 7.6 to 8.8 grains per gallon of calcium and magnesiumWhite crust on faucets and shower glass, spotty dishes, scale inside the water heaterSoften it at the point where water enters the house, so every indoor tap gets softened water
Disinfectant Chlorine, about 1 part per million. Chicago uses chlorine, not chloramineA pool smell in the shower, a taste in your coffeeCarbon filtration reduces the chlorine taste and smell
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. Lead is not from the treatment plant. It can come from lead service lines and older plumbing inside homesNothing. You can’t see or taste it, which is why a test mattersWe tell you honestly that a softener doesn’t remove it, and point you to the city’s free test
Standards Every result in the city's 2025 report passed, though some individual homes tested above the federal action level for lead. The report also lists three violations: two missed continuous checks on the cloudiness (turbidity) of individual filters in April and May 2025, with no issues leaving the treatment plant, and one failure to certify to the state that annual lead service line notices had gone out (the city says they were sent in 2025).Water that passes its tests, with a few things you may not loveMake it nicer to live with. If nothing bothers you, we’ll say you don’t need us

Sources: City of Chicago's 2025 Water Quality Report, the city's answer on hardness and the Department of Water Management. Suburbs that buy Lake Michigan water publish their own reports; we'll pull yours on the call. Water facts last checked October 15, 2026.

What about PFAS?

The City of Chicago says it sampled its drinking water for PFAS in 2014, 2020 and 2024 (and for PFOS, one type of PFAS, in 2011), and that every study came back non-detect: if any PFAS was present, it was too low for the laboratory instruments to detect. Read the City of Chicago's PFAS findings page. We make no claim that our equipment reduces PFAS.

Lead, the honest version

A whole-home softener does not remove lead, and we'll never tell you it does. Lead in Chicago water comes from lead service lines (the pipe that runs from the street into your house) and from older plumbing inside homes, not from the treatment plant. The city counts about 412,000 lead or suspected-lead service lines.

Here's what we suggest, whether or not you buy from us:

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.

Inside city limits

Inside Chicago, we use copper pipe for every connection we make. We pull the permit where one is required, and it's included in the price.

We only work on the house side of your water meter. The city's service line out to the street isn't ours to touch.

Your outdoor spigots usually stay on unsoftened water, which is better for the lawn and garden.

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 City Water Package

One package for most homes on city or village water. One price, in writing, before anyone comes to your house.

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.

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

City water questions

Does Chicago water need a softener?

Chicago's water is hard (7.6 to 8.8 grains per gallon, the city's own figure), so a softener is a choice, not a need. That figure falls in the "hard" band of the U.S. Geological Survey hardness scale. Hard water leaves white crust on faucets and shower glass and builds up scale in water heaters. Whether that is worth fixing is your call. If it doesn't bother you, you don't need a softener.

Read Chicago's water report in plain English for the rest of the numbers.

What is the difference between a whole-house water filter and a water softener?

A softener swaps the hardness minerals (calcium and magnesium) for a small amount of sodium, which cuts scale. A carbon filter reduces the chlorine taste and smell. Our whole-house system does both where the water enters your home, so every indoor tap gets it.

The drinking-water faucet at your kitchen sink is a separate reverse osmosis system, for drinking and cooking.

See a softener, a carbon filter, reverse osmosis and a salt-free conditioner side by side.

My water meets federal standards. Why treat it?

You may not need to. A system won't make water that already meets standards any safer. What it does is make it nicer to live with: less scale on faucets and shower glass, less buildup in your water heater, less chlorine taste and smell, and filtered water at the kitchen sink. If none of that bothers you, we'll tell you to save your money.

What is in Chicago's tap water?

Every result in Chicago's 2025 Water Quality Report passed. Lead is the exception people ask about: the citywide 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, which is why the city offers free lead testing. The same report lists three monitoring and notification violations. Two were missed continuous checks on the cloudiness (turbidity) of individual filters, in April and May 2025, and the report says there were no issues with turbidity leaving the treatment plant. The third was a failure to certify to the state that annual lead service line notices had gone out; the city says they were sent in 2025. You can read it here: City of Chicago's 2025 Water Quality Report.

Lead is a common question. In Chicago, lead comes from older service lines and plumbing inside homes, not from the treatment plant, and the city counts about 412,000 lead or suspected-lead service lines (the city's service line inventory). A softener does not remove lead. Chicago residents can request a free lead test kit from the city.

The City of Chicago says it sampled its drinking water for PFAS in 2014, 2020 and 2024 (and for PFOS, one type of PFAS, in 2011), and that every study came back non-detect: if any PFAS was present, it was too low for the laboratory instruments to detect. Read the City of Chicago's PFAS findings page. We make no claim that our equipment reduces PFAS.

How much sodium does a water softener add?

Softening swaps hardness minerals for sodium: roughly 8 milligrams per liter of sodium for each grain per gallon of hardness removed (North Dakota State University Extension's softener guide). At Chicago's 7.6 to 8.8 grains, that is up to roughly 60 to 70 mg/L if all the hardness is removed (our arithmetic). For comparison, the city's own 2025 report lists 8.67 to 9.10 ppm (mg/L) of sodium in Chicago tap water before any softener (City of Chicago's 2025 Water Quality Report).

Sodium counts as a dissolved solid, and before we leave, the drinking-water faucet has to read under 10% of your tap water's dissolved solids. If you are on a sodium-restricted diet, ask your doctor.

My town uses chloramine, not chlorine. Does that matter?

A little. Chicago disinfects with chlorine, but some suburbs use chloramine, which is chlorine combined with ammonia. Your town's water report says which one you have. We're confirming with our supplier which carbon handles chloramine. Until then we make no taste or smell promise in those towns, and if a different carbon changes the price, it goes on your written quote before you sign.

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.

All questions and answers

Get your town's numbers, explained

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