No salt, ever
No brine tank, no salt bags to haul, nothing to refill on a schedule.
Salt-free electric water treatment
Navien WEC600 Installed
Tankless, salt-free, wall-mounted. No brine tank, no salt bags to haul. It starts with a free check of hardness, chlorine and dissolved solids (TDS) — included with your estimate — to confirm it fits your water, city or well, before you spend anything.
The honest math
Read This Before You Buy One
The WEC has hard limits on the water going into it, and a lot of Yavapai County sits right on the line — or past it. The honest math:
| Your water | Hardness | WEC600 (max 350 ppm / 20.5 gpg) |
|---|---|---|
| Prescott city water | 4.3–7.6 gpg (75–130 ppm) | Good fit |
| Moderate well — like a recent Prescott install | 20 gpg (342 ppm) | Fits — but only just |
| Hard well | 25 gpg (428 ppm) | Over the limit |
| Very hard well | 30 gpg (513 ppm) | Over the limit |
Hardness is given two ways: grains per gallon (gpg) and parts per million (ppm). One grain is about 17 ppm. City figure: the City of Prescott’s water quality report.
Plainly: the WEC600 handles typical Prescott city water comfortably, and it covers a good number of wells too — a recent install here tested at 20 grains and sits inside the limit. But that one had only 8 ppm of headroom, and well hardness shifts with the season. Past roughly 20 grains you are outside the unit’s range and want a conventional softener instead.
That is exactly why every WEC quote starts with the free hardness, chlorine & TDS check with your estimate — hardness and TDS measured at your house, no charge, no obligation. If your numbers are close to the line, you will be told so honestly, before you spend anything. For wells, the $185 lab test is the thorough option.
How it works
What the WEC Actually Does
The Navien WEC is the first tankless electric whole-house water treatment system of its kind. Rather than exchanging hardness minerals for sodium the way a salt softener does, it uses electro-membrane capacitive deionization — an electrical two-phase process of adsorption and regeneration that removes hardness and total dissolved solids from the water. In plain terms: electrically charged plates pull the minerals out of the water passing through, then let them go to the drain.
Reduces TDS, not just hardness
A softener leaves total dissolved solids essentially unchanged. The WEC actually lowers them.
94% scale reduction
Certified to Z601 by IAPMO — whole-house protection for piping, fixtures and appliances.
Tankless, wall-mounted
An appliance-sized footprint instead of two tanks taking up the garage.
Filtration built in
10-micron sediment pre-filter and 1-micron carbon block post-filter. NSF 42 certified for chlorine and odor.
NaviLink Lite connectivity
Monitor the system and its service intervals from your phone.
Max flow is 10 GPM (gallons per minute) on both models, and both run an automatic Clean-In-Place cycle with up to 85% water recovery. The design credentials are real too — a 2023 Red Dot Design Award and a 2024 IDEA Awards featured finalist.
If you have a tankless water heater, scale in its heat exchanger is the thing to worry about — see tankless water heaters.
Which model
The WEC600 — the Model for This Area
Navien makes two WEC models. Only one is worth installing in Yavapai County. The smaller WEC400 caps out at 150 ppm hardness (about 8.8 grains). Prescott city water at 4.3–7.6 grains fits inside that, but it leaves nothing spare for a well, a seasonal swing or a move — and Yavapai County wells commonly run 22 to 32+ grains. CreekWell installs the WEC600 here for the headroom, and Neil will tell you plainly if your water is beyond even that.
| What matters | WEC600 | WEC400 |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness limit | 350 ppm — about 20.5 grains | 150 ppm — about 8.8 grains |
| Max flow | 10 GPM | 10 GPM |
| Prescott city water, 4.3–7.6 grains | Fits comfortably | Fits, with nothing spare |
| A well at 20 grains | Fits, only just | Too hard |
| Installed by CreekWell | Yes | No |
Navien WEC600
- Feedwater up to 500 ppm TDS
- Hardness up to 350 ppm — about 20.5 grains
- 10 GPM max flow — keeps up with a full house
- Salt-free, tankless, wall-mounted
- Warranty: 1 year labor, 3 years parts — 5 years parts when registered (registration is free and handled during the install), plus CreekWell’s two-year workmanship warranty on the install
Price: a flat installed quote, given after your water check. There is no honest number to print before the check confirms the WEC600 fits your water. The quote is the same anywhere in Yavapai County — Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Mayer, Paulden, Sedona, Cottonwood, the Verde Valley and the outer county.
Not bookable yet. This work costs more than $1,000, which puts it outside what CreekWell can take on until its Arizona contractor licenses issue. The details here are accurate so you can plan and compare. Why
That 20.5-grain ceiling is the number that decides everything. Prescott city water sits well inside it. Plenty of area wells do too — but plenty do not, and some sit close enough to the line that seasonal variation matters. Fifteen minutes with a hardness meter during your free estimate settles it.
Install day
What the Install Involves
The WEC installs at the point of entry and needs three things in that location:
- Water in and out — straightforward if you already have a softener loop.
- 120V power — this is an electric system, not a passive tank. It needs an outlet at the unit.
- A drain connection — the system recovers up to 85% of the water and sends the balance, plus its automatic Clean-In-Place cycles, to drain.
It must be installed indoors on a flat surface, protected from weather, by a qualified installer — Neil is a Navien factory-certified installer. Where an existing loop already has power and a drain nearby, it is a clean single-visit install. Where power or drain has to be run, that is quoted separately and approved by you before anything starts — the flat rate never quietly grows.
Unit registration and NaviLink Lite setup are handled during the install, along with a walkthrough of the service intervals so you know what is coming and when.
Service status — September 2026
Rebranding, and adding licenses
Aqua Cat Plumbing & Water Treatment is now CreekWell Plumbing & Water Treatment. Same owner, same phone number.
We are adding Arizona contractor licenses, and we are not booking new work until that is done. New work restarts the first week of November. Jobs already on the schedule are not affected.
For new work, request a November visit or call or text 928-228-5770. Bookings go in the order they come in, at the prices published on this site. No deposit.
Straight answers
Questions we get asked
Can you come out right now?
Not for new work. We are rebranding and adding Arizona contractor licenses. New work restarts the first week of November, once the licenses are issued. Jobs already on the schedule are not affected.
Leave your name on the list or call or text 928-228-5770. Bookings go in the order they come in, at the prices published on this site, with no deposit.
Will the Navien WEC600 work on my water?
Often yes — but it has to be checked, not assumed.
The WEC600 handles feedwater up to 350 ppm hardness (about 20.5 grains) and 500 ppm TDS. Prescott city water runs 4.3–7.6 grains, comfortably inside that. A good number of area wells fit as well — a recent Prescott install tested at 20 grains and came in under the limit, though with only 8 ppm to spare, and well hardness moves with the season. Past roughly 20 grains you are outside the unit’s range and a conventional softener is the right answer. That is why it starts with the free hardness, chlorine & TDS check with your estimate — measured at your house before you spend anything.
How is the WEC different from a regular water softener?
A softener uses salt to swap hardness for sodium; the WEC pulls hardness out electrically, with no salt.
A conventional softener uses ion exchange and salt, and needs a brine tank and periodic salt refills. The WEC uses electro-membrane capacitive deionization — an electrical process that pulls hardness minerals and total dissolved solids out of the water — so there is no salt, no brine tank and nothing to haul. It is tankless and wall-mounted, roughly an appliance footprint rather than two tanks in the garage. It also reduces TDS, which a softener does not do at all: a softener swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium and leaves total dissolved solids essentially unchanged.
What does the WEC need for installation?
Three things at the point of entry: water in and out, a 120V electrical outlet, and a drain connection.
The drain matters because the system recovers up to 85% of the water and sends the rest, plus periodic Clean-In-Place cycles, down the drain. It must be installed indoors, on a flat surface, out of the weather, by a qualified installer. If your existing softener loop already has power and a drain nearby, the install is straightforward. If power or drain has to be run, that is quoted separately and approved before work starts.
What maintenance does it need?
Far less handling than salt, but it is not maintenance-free.
Filters and a Clean-In-Place cycle come due roughly every 50,000 gallons or six months for a typical family of four. The system runs the CIP cycle automatically, but it uses a citric acid solution that is consumable and sold separately — budget for it the way you would budget for salt, just less often and without the lifting. The 10-micron sediment pre-filter and 1-micron carbon block post-filter are replaceable on the same general schedule.
Is the Navien WEC worth it compared to a standard softener?
It depends what you are actually buying.
If never handling a salt bag again, reclaiming the garage space, cutting TDS as well as hardness, and app connectivity are worth a real premium to you, then yes. If your goal is simply to stop scale at the lowest cost, a conventional softener does that for substantially less money. Both are legitimate choices. What is not legitimate is selling you a WEC for water it cannot treat, which is why the test comes first.
What certifications and warranty does it carry?
The WEC is NSF/ANSI certified, NSF 42 certified for chlorine and odor reduction, and certified by IAPMO to Z601 for 94% scale reduction.
It won a Red Dot Design Award in 2023 and was an IDEA Awards featured finalist in 2024. Navien’s warranty is 1 year labor and 3 years parts, extending to 5 years parts when the unit is registered — registration is free and adds two years of parts coverage, so it is handled during the install rather than left to you. CreekWell’s two-year workmanship warranty covers the install itself.
Who installs the Navien WEC near me in Prescott?
Neil Staiger, CreekWell’s owner and a Navien factory-certified installer.
CreekWell installs Navien WEC600 systems across Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Sedona and Cottonwood. Every WEC quote starts with the free hardness, chlorine and TDS check at your estimate, to confirm hardness and TDS fall inside the unit’s limits, because installing one outside spec means it will not perform. If your water is too hard for the WEC, you will be told that and pointed at a conventional softener instead.
The list
Request a November visit in the first round of appointments
New work restarts the first week of November, once we finish rebranding and the contractor licenses are issued. Jobs already scheduled are not affected.