Water Treatment and Well profit margin benchmarks
The IRS reports what one-owner businesses filing Schedule C earn, by sector. Water Treatment and Well falls under Specialty trade contractors. For tax year 2023, 2,521,516 returns reported $257.8 billion in receipts, $80.4 billion in cost of sales and $40.5 billion in net income less deficit (the table gives thousands of dollars):
| Benchmark | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross margin | 68.8% |
| Net margin, owner pay included | 15.7% |
| Average receipts per return | $102,220 |
| Average net income per return | $16,054 |
The owner's own draw is not an expense on a Schedule C, so that net margin is mostly the owner's wage, not profit on top of it.
Where the money goes in water treatment
Water treatment is equipment heavy on installs and labor and parts on service. Salt, filters and service visits are where the recurring margin sits.
Where water treatment margin leaks, and how to win it back
- Systems sold without a service plan
- Free water tests that never close
- Plumbing changes not priced
- Filters sold at cost
- Long drives to rural wells
Ways water treatment companies raise margin: sell a service plan with every system; price plumbing changes on their own; mark up filters and salt; group service visits by area.
Check your water treatment prices against the costs
The typical national prices from our sourced calculators are a check on whether your prices leave room for margin:
| Service | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Water softener, single tank | $1,650 | $650 to $2,700 a job |
| Water softener, dual tank | $2,825 | $1,150 to $4,000 a job |
| Salt-free conditioner | $2,700 | $800 to $4,500 a job |
| Whole-house reverse osmosis | $7,450 | $2,900 to $12,000 a job |
| Radon test | $475 | $150 to $800 a job |
Work out the margin on each line of your menu, not just the big jobs. The usual water treatment menu: water softener, single tank; water softener, dual tank; salt-free conditioner; whole-house reverse osmosis; water test; radon test; well water test; softener service visit; filter change; under-sink ro filter change; salt delivery; well pump service.
Overhead comes out of the margin before profit. In water treatment it includes general liability insurance, which Insureon's customers who are contractors as a group pay an average of $83 a month for; commercial auto at $270 a month on the same figures.
Work out your own margin
Put one recent water treatment job into the calculator above, or switch it to "My margin for the year" to set your year next to the IRS benchmark. A 50% markup is a 33% margin; the markup calculator shows the rest.
Sources
- IRS Statistics of Income: Nonfarm sole proprietorships, Table 2, income statements by industrial sector, tax year 2023, checked October 9, 2026
- IRS: SOI tax stats, nonfarm sole proprietorship statistics, checked October 9, 2026
- Insureon: Insurance cost for contractors as a group, checked October 9, 2026
- This Old House, water softener system cost, checked October 9, 2026
- Today's Homeowner, water softener system cost, checked October 9, 2026
- Bob Vila, water softener system cost, checked October 9, 2026
- Fixr, water softener installation cost, checked October 9, 2026
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files), checked October 8, 2026
- US Census Bureau, 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area to county relationship file, checked October 8, 2026
- HomeAdvisor, radon mitigation system cost, checked October 9, 2026
- Bob Vila, radon mitigation system cost, checked October 9, 2026
Last checked October 9, 2026. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and differ by state and city, so confirm with the agency named before you act.