About Clean Water Testing
Certified Drinking Water Testing Lab
Clean Water Testing, LLC is a state-certified lab specializing in water testing. Since 1985, Clean Water Testing has been providing complete water testing services for residential, commercial and industrial customers, including testing for volatile organic chemical (VOC) contamination in water and soil. Clean Water Testing is a division of Water-Right, Inc.
When Clean Water Testing, Inc. was started in 1985 there were many rural families that had never had their water tested. These families fell into three general groups: ones that didn’t care about their water, ones that didn’t understand the problem, or ones that really wanted their water tested and right away!
Clean Water Testing, a health and safety drinking water laboratory, was founded by Michael Furstenberg in the basement of his home in Appleton, WI. Who would have thought that an early mentor and lifelong friend, Glenn Gruett, president of Water-Right, Inc. who encouraged that first small laboratory, would 20 years later purchase Clean Water Testing and grow it to its present size and capabilities as a full service laboratory?
In the beginning, Mike would drive out to the country and knock on doors asking if people wanted to have their water tested. Every afternoon he would bring back water samples to test for coliform bacteria and nitrates. After the first year, a high school student was hired to help wash bottles and shorten the ten and twelve hour days. After the second year, there were two more employees hired and the business had begun to flourish.
After a couple of moves to larger facilities, and the hiring of additional staff, Clean Water Testing had come into its own. It had grown to serve not only the whole state of Wisconsin, but was now licensed to serve Illinois. A real estate portion of the business had grown into a company division providing water testing for rural real estate home sales, licensed well inspections, and licensed septic system inspections-all required for the sale of a rural home. The well water testing business had grown and was now receiving up to 100 water samples a day-6 days a week, for coliform and e. coli bacteria testing.
With time, Clean Water Testing founded four new independent laboratories in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. The headquarters laboratory at Clean Water Testing headquarters in Appleton, WI provides the independent laboratories with training, supplies and assistance with specialty water testing for nitrate, arsenic, lead and copper.
In 2002, Mike Furstenberg and Glenn Gruett got together once again and have now taken CWT to the next level. In 2003, Water-Right, Inc. purchased Clean Water Testing Inc. A new “Clean Water Center” building was built, currently housing both Clean Water Testing and Water Right Services (a local Water Treatment Dealership). The Clean Water Center is adjacent to the home office of Water-Right, Inc. The new “Center” houses an expanded laboratory, a new well water and septic system inspection staff for real estate inspections, and a complete water treatment department with a professional staff to treat water quality problems.