Water Softener Installation in the Twin Cities: Protect Your Investment

Hard water causes expensive problems in Minnesota homes. White crusty deposits around your faucets are made of calcium and magnesium. That film on your dishes is comprised of more minerals. The popping noise your water heater makes is sediment buildup shortening its life.

Champion Plumbing has solved hard water problems in the Twin Cities for over 24 years. We replace over 3,000 water heaters annually, and many of those early failures are from hard water damage. A water softener unit protects your plumbing system and can extend your water heater’s life by 5-10 years.

Brita PRO water softener install

How Minnesota Water Can Harm Your Plumbing

Minnesota groundwater picks up minerals as it travels through limestone and rock formations. Your municipal water supply might be safe to drink, but those dissolved minerals create expensive problems once water enters your home.

Hard water minerals stick to everything. Your water heater elements get coated with scale, forcing them to work harder and use more energy. Pipes narrow over time as buildup accumulates. Soap won’t lather properly because it reacts with calcium and magnesium instead of cleaning.

Thinking about a new water softener replacement after seeing what hard water does to water heaters? We can test your water and size a system that fits your home.

We’ll Explain What’s Wrong with Your Water

We’re upfront about something important: if you don’t have a filter, you become the filter. Your body, your appliances, your plumbing fixtures—everything downstream from your main water supply becomes a collection point for whatever’s in your water.

When you call us about water softener installation, we start with a water test. Not a guess, not a sales pitch—testing that shows what minerals you’re dealing with and at what concentrations. Our technicians have been with us for years, with most having been with us for over a decade. They’ve seen what works in Eagan, what fails in Apple Valley, and what Minnesota winters do to plumbing systems.

If your system isn’t working, our water softener repair service can figure out what’s wrong and whether it’s worth fixing.

Signs You Need a Water Softener Unit

You might already know you have hard water, but here’s what we hear from customers right before they call us:

That popping or rumbling sound means sediment is breaking loose from the heating elements, and by the time you hear it, damage is already happening.

Faucets, showerheads, and shower glass covered in calcium deposits that you’re constantly scrubbing off.

You’re using twice as much detergent, shampoo, and dish soap as you should, and clothes still come out dingy while your hair feels off.

Hard water leaves a mineral film on your skin that soap can’t fully remove.

If you’ve replaced your dishwasher twice in ten years, hard water is likely the reason.

Why Choose Champion Plumbing for Water Softener Installation

We focus on education over sales pressure and preventing problems before they cost you money:

Most plumbing companies wait for things to break. We’d rather help you avoid the problem. When we install water heaters—over 3,000 per year—we discuss water softening because we know that softened water will protect the water heater, allowing it to last twice as long.

Champion Plumbing partners with Brita PRO for water treatment because their systems deliver results and back them up with solid warranties. We understand how these systems work with Minnesota water conditions and program them for optimal salt efficiency based on your household size and water quality.

We provide a detailed quote before we start. That quote includes equipment, labor, materials, disposal of old equipment if applicable, and our one-year labor warranty. The number we provide is the amount you will pay.

Call our Eagan office at 651-365-1340 before noon for same-day service availability. We serve the entire Twin Cities metro area from Lakeville to Minneapolis, Burnsville to St. Paul. We’re not licensed in Wisconsin.

What Happens During Installation

BritaPRO Water Softener Recent Install

The installation process takes most of a day for a typical residential setup:

  • Water Testing and System Sizing: We measure hardness in grains per gallon to size your system correctly, not by guessing.
  • System Selection and Education: Based on your test results and household size, we recommend the best capacity and explain how regeneration works, salt usage, and whether smart features like WiFi monitoring make sense for your home.
  • Professional Installation: We shut off your water supply, install the bypass valve assembly, connect to your plumbing system with code-compliant fittings, route drain lines to approved locations, and wire the control panel.
  • Testing and Training: We run regeneration cycles to verify everything works, then show you how to add salt, check settings, and recognize when something needs attention before we clean up and leave.

The Benefits of Soft Water

Installing a water softener system creates immediate improvements throughout your home. The benefits show up in three main areas:

Three things cause plumbing issues: age, pressure, and water condition. A water softener—or better yet, a softener with carbon filter—addresses water condition by preventing scale buildup that can damage your water heater and other plumbing fixtures. By eliminating hard water minerals, you protect your investment and help extend the life of your water heater and plumbing system.

You’ll use half the detergent, shampoo, and dish soap—and get better results. Dishes come out spot-free, laundry feels soft, and faucets stay clean without scrubbing crusty buildup every weekend.

Your water heater uses less energy without fighting through scale. Your dishwasher and washing machine run fewer cycles. People with sensitive skin or eczema often see improvement because soft water rinses completely clean.

Pair Water Softeners with Filtration for Complete Protection

You can choose a standard water softener or upgrade to a Softener + Carbon Filter System—our most popular option. The Brita PRO Whole House Softener + Carbon Filter removes hard water minerals while also eliminating chlorine and chloramines, giving you great-tasting, odor-free water throughout your entire home.

Want even more protection? We offer additional point-of-use systems (like reverse osmosis filters) and specialized whole-home filtration options that address specific concerns like lead, PFAS, and other contaminants. Many Twin Cities homeowners have received letters from their municipal water providers about potential contamination—and we have solutions tailored to those concerns.

Schedule Your Water Softener Installation With Champion Plumbing

Champion Plumbing has been protecting Twin Cities homes from hard water damage since 2001. We’ve seen what hard water does to plumbing systems, and we know how to prevent it. Call 651-365-1340 to discuss water softener installation for your home.

Frequently Asked Questions

Water softener installation typically takes a few hours for a replacement system or about half a day for a new installation. We test your water, install the system with a bypass valve for easy maintenance, connect it to your plumbing, and run cycles to make sure everything works properly.

Installation cost depends on system size and your home’s setup. We provide detailed quotes after testing your water because every situation is different.

Yes, water softeners eliminate the scale buildup that damages water heaters and shortens their lifespan. Soft water helps extend the life of your water heater and protects all of your home’s plumbing system and fixtures from mineral damage.