ADRIAN — Back in 1973, when Les Sieler was a high school student working part-time hauling heavy bags of salt for Miracle Water of Lenawee, he never would have thought that in 2024 his own water treatment company, Sieler’s Water Systems, would be marking its 35th year in business.

“Growing up, I just figured I’d be working in a factory and farming,” he said.

Sieler went from that early experience with Miracle Water of Lenawee’s owner, Sam Smith, to working for him half-days as a Vo-Tech student and, later, as a full-time employee. Even after he left Smith’s company for a completely different line of work in order to earn more, he and a friend continued repairing water softeners on the side.

Many twists and turns later, all involving side work in the water-treatment business, it was 1989 and Sieler had left his main job to open Sieler’s Water Systems in Ann Arbor. He expanded into Adrian at 136 E. Maumee St., Suite 11, in about 1995, and that eventually became the business’s sole site.

Finally, nine years ago, Sieler purchased the building in which his business is located, transforming it from the Home Design Gallery into the Gallery of Shops.

Sieler’s Water Systems sells, services, and provides preventive maintenance for a full range of products including water softeners; purification systems that remove tannins, iron, and sulfur; reverse osmosis systems; and bottled water coolers. It also offers free water testing and sells and delivers salt.

Lease and rent-to-own options are available.

Building a successful business took “a lot of hard work and perseverance,” Sieler said, but today the company’s residential, commercial, and industrial customer base stretches across Lenawee County as well as other locations around southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio. 

And its customer satisfaction is very high, as evidenced by its earning Best of Lenawee honors from The Daily Telegram for nine years in a row.

What’s the key to having so many satisfied customers? “My clients are my friends,” he said, and he and his staff are committed to providing quality service.

“We do what we say we’re going to do, and we follow up,” he said.

“Do we get it right every time? No. But we keep working at it.”

And as a result of that customer focus, “we’ve consistently grown over these past years.” 

In fact, “people that I serviced years ago, I’m getting their grandkids,” he said. “And our referrals are through the roof.”

On the personal side of life, Sieler has been married to his wife, Mary, for close to 45 years now. Mary serves as the business’s bookkeeper and “is the glue that holds everything together,” he said.

They have two children, Tyler, who owns Sieler’s Landscape & Design in Adrian, and Tiffany, the owner of Downtown Dempsey’s Restaurant in the Gallery of Shops.

Considering that he once thought his life was going to be about factory work and farming, the second half of that equation at least proved to be true. The Sielers went on to purchase his family’s farm in Raisin Township, where he raises beef cattle and cash crops including corn, soybeans, and alfalfa.

In that same vein, Sieler’s Water Systems is a regular fixture at the Lenawee County Fair by participating in the 4-H auction every year. 

“We try to give back to the community,” Sieler said.

Sieler may not have foreseen, all those years ago, that he’d still be working in the water-treatment field in 2024, but he definitely still enjoys the challenges involved in dealing with water-quality issues. In fact, he still goes out on service calls himself.

He is quick to give credit for his business’ success to the people who work for him. The company currently has 10 full- and part-time employees.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve grown,” he said, “and without our team, we wouldn’t exist.”

Sieler’s Water Systems’ office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The business can be reached at 517-225-1499 or 517-265-2029, or by email at [email protected]. More information is available at www.sielerswater.com or on Facebook.