Lake water or a well: what your New Berlin house runs on
In New Berlin this one question decides almost everything about a softener. City water has been purchased Lake Michigan supply, about 8 grains, since July 2009, while a private well draws groundwater the utility put at 18 to 32. Here is how to tell which one your house is on.
Call (262) 829-5961Mon to Fri, 7am to 5pmWhy the answer matters so much in New Berlin
The two supplies are not slightly different. One is purchased lake water in the USGS hard band; the other is groundwater deep inside the very hard band. The utility tells city customers they should no longer need a softener, while well water is exactly what softeners exist for.
So a quote that starts from the wrong supply starts from the wrong number, and possibly from the wrong decision.
Signs your house is on the city system
You pay the New Berlin Water Utility for the water you use. The bill is the quickest proof, quicker than anything in the basement, and the utility can confirm whether your address is one of its customers.
City customers have drawn Milwaukee Water Works’ Lake Michigan supply since July 2009, so a city-water house built before then has had two different waters in its pipes.
Signs your house is on a private well
No water bill arrives, because no utility supplies the house; the water comes from a well on the property. Lab reports, well paperwork or a previous owner’s records will usually say so plainly.
A well house in New Berlin draws the groundwater the city stopped pumping in 2009, which the utility had published at 18 to 32 grains. Nothing about the switch reached it.
The plumber’s first reading settles any doubt
Even when the paperwork is unclear, the hardness test at the start of install day is telling. A reading near 8 grains is what Milwaukee’s lake water looks like, while a reading in the high teens or beyond points to groundwater.
That test comes before anyone opens a pipe, which means the softener is always set from the water the house really gets.
What to tell us when you call
Give the address, or say there is a well. If you are not sure, say that too, and the call works through it with you. Either way it ends with one price, and nobody visits to sell.
If you know when any softener in the house went in, mention that as well; in New Berlin a date before July 2009 says something about what it was set for.
Common questions
My neighbor is on city water. Does that mean I am?
Not necessarily. A neighbor’s supply is a hint, not proof. Your own bill, or a word with the utility, settles it.
Does the supply change what comes with the system?
No. The softener, its brine tank and the reverse-osmosis drinking tap come together on either supply. What the supply changes is the softener’s setting, and whether a softener is wanted in the first place.
More for New Berlin homes
- Water softener installation in New Berlin, WI
- Water softener replacement in New Berlin, WI
- Well water softeners in New Berlin, WI
- New Berlin, WI water hardness
- New Berlin water guides
- About New Berlin Softener Co.
- Water softener quotes in New Berlin, WI
- New Berlin city water and the softener question
- Setting a softener for New Berlin water
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