Find Out Exactly How Hard Your Water Is, and What It’s Doing to Your Home
Cardinal Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric has been testing water for Sun Prairie, WI homes since 1984. We'll test your water for hardness and iron, hand you both numbers, and explain what they mean for your water heater, your laundry, and your showers. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and it costs nothing.
You shouldn't have to buy a system to find out whether you need one. That's why Cardinal's Water Filtration Systems start with an honest, no-obligation test, not a sales pitch.
Or call or text 608-413-3928
Serving Wisconsin homes since 1984
6,000+ five-star reviews
Licensed and insured plumbers
You shouldn’t have to buy a system to find out whether you need one.
How It Works
- You pick a time that works for you.
- A licensed Cardinal plumber tests your water for hardness and iron.
- You get both numbers, and a plain explanation of what they mean for your house.
You’ve Probably Been Working Around This for Years
There's a ring in the guest bathroom sink that comes back a week after you scrub it. There's a set of white towels that went gray somewhere along the way, and you couldn't say exactly when. And there's a bottle of shampoo that empties faster than it should, because it takes twice as much to get any lather out of it.
None of that is you doing something wrong. Most homeowners never call a plumber about their water, they adjust instead, buying more detergent, scrubbing a little harder, replacing the coffee maker sooner than they expected to, and figuring that's just how water works around here.
Sometimes it is. More often it's hardness and iron, and the useful part is that both of those are measurable, and both of them are fixable.
Here's what they usually look like in a Wisconsin home:
- Soap and shampoo that won't lather, no matter how much you use
- Chalky white buildup on the showerhead, the faucet aerators, and the inside of the kettle
- Orange or rust colored staining in sinks, tubs, and toilet tanks
- Spots and film on glasses coming out of a dishwasher that's working fine
- Whites that come out of the wash looking gray or dingy
- Skin that feels tight and hair that feels coated after a shower
- A water heater that's getting louder, or that hasn't lasted as long as you expected
Any one of these can have another explanation. Several of them together usually points at the water itself, and if you've been quietly wondering whether you should have dealt with this years ago, most people don't until a water heater forces the issue.
What We Test, and What the Numbers Mean
A hardware store test strip gives you a color to hold up against a chart. That tells you roughly whether you have a problem. It doesn't tell you how big the problem is, and it doesn't tell you what size of equipment would fix it.
A Cardinal plumber tests two things and gives you a number for each.
Hardness, measured in grains per gallon. This is the calcium and magnesium dissolved in your water, and it's what leaves scale inside your water heater and your pipes, and what keeps soap from lathering.
Iron, measured in parts per million. This is what stains sinks, tubs, and laundry orange, and it's common in Wisconsin homes, particularly homes on a private well.
You get both numbers written down, and a plumber standing there to explain what they mean for your house specifically. If the numbers come back low, that's the whole visit, and you're done.
Three Ways This Can Go
Your water is in good shape.
It happens, particularly on some municipal systems. We tell you that, we leave, and there's nothing to buy. You'll know for certain instead of wondering about it every time you scrub the sink.
Your hardness or iron is high, and a water softener is the answer.
This is the most common outcome. A softener treats the water for the whole house before it reaches any fixture, which protects the water heater, the dishwasher, the washing machine, and the plumbing itself. Your test numbers determine what size system your household actually needs, so you're not paying for capacity you'll never use, and you're not buying something undersized that runs out of soft water on laundry day.
Learn about water softenersYou want better drinking water at the kitchen sink.
A softener handles hardness and iron throughout the house, but it isn't built to change how your water tastes. If taste, odor, or drinking water purity is what's been bothering you, a reverse osmosis system under the kitchen sink is the piece that handles that. Some homes end up with both, and some only need one. Your numbers will tell us which.
Learn about reverse osmosis
Who’s Coming to Your House
Cardinal has been working on Wisconsin plumbing since 1984, which means we've seen what this water does to a water heater over ten years, and what it does to one that was protected the whole time. The difference is not subtle.
The plumber who shows up is licensed, background checked, and in a Cardinal uniform. He'll put on shoe covers before he comes in, test your water, tell you what the numbers mean, and answer the question you actually asked rather than the one that sells the most equipment.
6,000 Wisconsin homeowners have left Cardinal a five-star review.
What Hard Water Is Doing In There
Three minutes on what hardness and iron do to a water heater, a dishwasher, and a set of towels, and how a softener changes it.
What the Visit Includes
- A licensed Cardinal plumber at your house at a time you pick
- A hardness test and an iron test on your actual water, not an estimate based on your zip code
- Both numbers explained on the spot, in plain terms
- A written recommendation if you want one, including what size equipment would fit your household
- Shoe covers and drop cloths, because it's your house
- No charge, and no obligation to buy anything
Knowing Versus Guessing
If you do nothing
Scale keeps building inside the water heater, which makes it work harder and shortens how long it lasts. Detergent use stays high. The ring in the sink keeps coming back after you scrub it. And a year from now you still won't know whether your water is the problem or whether it's something else in the house.
If you get the test
You have two numbers, and you know what they mean. If your water is fine, you stop thinking about it. If it isn't, you know what size system would fix it and what it costs, and you decide on your own schedule instead of deciding the week your water heater quits.
Hard water doesn't stop at soap and stains; it shortens the life of your Water Heater Services. Cardinal is Sun Prairie's one-stop shop for home comfort, backed by BBB accreditation and financing options when you need them.
What Wisconsin Homeowners Say
Questions We Get
The plumber will tell you what your numbers mean and give you a price if you want one. You're not expected to decide during the visit, and if your water is fine, he'll say so and leave.
Yes. There's no charge for the visit and no obligation to buy anything afterward.
Hardness, in grains per gallon, and iron, in parts per million. Those are the two things behind most of the scale, staining, and lathering problems homeowners call us about.
5 to 10 minutes for the test itself. Plan on a short visit so the plumber has time to walk you through both numbers and look at your water heater and any equipment you already have.
Then we tell you it's fine and we leave. That's a legitimate result, and it does happen.
Yes. Private wells in Wisconsin commonly run high on both hardness and iron, and well water is where we see the widest gap between what a homeowner expects and what the numbers show.
A softener treats hardness and iron for the whole house. Reverse osmosis treats taste and purity at one faucet, usually the kitchen sink. If hardness is your issue, start with the softener. If your water is already soft and you simply don't like how it tastes, reverse osmosis is the one you want.
Most homes get scheduled within a few days, often sooner. We don't promise same-day service since that's not something we can hold to year-round, but you'll get a specific date when you book.
Anywhere in Cardinal's standard service area, throughout Dane County and the surrounding communities we serve.
Ready for Water You Don't Have to Wonder About?
Call 608-413-3928 or schedule your free test online. Cardinal has been the best in the business for Wisconsin homeowners since 1984, with 6,000+ five-star reviews behind us
Or call 608-413-3928. You can also text us, and we’ll text you back during business hours.
Licensed and insured | Serving Wisconsin homes since 1984 | No charge, no obligation