SALEM – Quality Water Systems is in its 41st year and going strong.

When Sam Mong founded Quality Water systems of Salem on West State Street in 1975, he started with nothing, Travis Mong said of the family-owned, second generation business.

Located today at 934 Salem Parkway, the company also includes R&S Drilling which merged with it three years ago.

Travis Mong and his father are the principals in Quality Water Systems that serves the Mahoning Valley, Columbiana, Carroll and Stark counties and is licensed, bonded, insured and carries an A-plus rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Mong started in the company when he was 15 and has worked every job in the company and owes everything to his father and mother.

“We focus on the complete water system starting with the drilled water well and full customized pumping system to full in-line water treatment needs,” Mong said, adding Quality Water Systems can bring a system up to EPA codes.

Delivery items include 24-bottle, 20-ounce cases, up to five-gallon bottles, and salt for water softeners or safety salt for icing conditions, or customers can pick them up at the drive-up window.

Mong, who is a 2002 Salem High School graduate and 2006 Mount Union graduate with a business degree, said, “I love what I’m doing.”

After about 10 years on West State Street, Quality Water Systems moved to Vine Avenue for where it steadily grew for 26 years, and four years ago the move was made to its current 8,000-square-foot facility on Salem Parkway in the industrial park.

The business employs 11 people and Mong said they are always looking for field techs, water treatment techs, well techs, electricians and plumbers.

“Now we drill our own wells,” he said with the addition of R&S Drilling. The average well is drilled to a depth of 120 feet and they can go as deep as 340 feet.

“Yes, we do a lot of them, three a week,” he said, adding the main pump that is installed is made by Grundfos.

“It’s the only pump with a five-year warranty,” he said, explaining they run an eight-inch bore and then insert a six-inch casing, running the hole to the water.

On average it takes three to four days to install a well with the top formation, casing and pump system depending on the depth, but it can also take as little as a day.

“Every well is totally different and the water is different,” he said.

“Our bread and butter is residential all day long,” he said with some commercial business, but residential is “the big thing.”

Quality Water Systems uses a down-hole well camera that takes the guess work out of checking a damaged well.

“I would want to know what my well looks like,” he said of the state-of-art technology.

“And there’s peace of mind.”

He added, “And a lot of times you can fix the water at the well,” explaining the well camera is also a valuable tool in assessing real estate and county government has used the camera at times.

Water treatment is another big thing, he said, and that includes water filters, conditioners, iron filters, chlorination systems and reverse osmosis.

“We do free water analysis, well diagnosis and test the water but we also go over the water system with the customer,” he said.

That sometimes includes getting under a building and into tough-to-reach places, but it’s part of the service.

Quality Water Systems can also deploy five “well on wheels” vehicles in emergencies to get customers back on line with water in minutes after arriving. It’s a 24/7 service.

If there is no water, “we can provide an emergency tank of water that hooks up to the outside spigot so you don’t have to leave your home or go to a hotel,” Mong said.

“It take s10 minutes to hook up. We started it 10 years ago and people love it. I’ve been out there sometimes at two or three in the morning, but it’s something you have to do,” Mong explained.

He recalled his father being called out in the middle of the night.

“It’s really an amazing story, someone starts something from nothing,” he said and can remembers his mother, Kim, being understanding about it all.

Quality Water Systems is the largest water company in the tri-state area, has grown in “leaps and bounds” in the last 10 years and they always have a need for more pump installer technicians.

“We do a lot in Carroll County, we do a lot of churches … we’re a family-owned, Christian business,” Mong said, adding it’s also a one-stop shop for all water needs with water delivery, water treatment technicians, 24-hour well pump service and well drilling.

For more information, visit Quality Water Systems and R&S Drilling Salem at

www.qualitywatersystemsllc.com or call 330-332-9464 or 1-800-332-9462.

lshields@salemnews.net