Godwin Plumbing has been installing water treatment equipment for over 30 years and over this time we have grown to become West Michigan's largest water treatment dealer. Our water treatment department, Godwin Quality Water, differ from our competitors in many ways. When you have us out to test your water you will be talking with a salaried professional who is certified with the national Water Quality Association. Our WQA certifications include:

• Certified Water Specialist
• Deionization
• Filtration
• Disinfection
• Reverse Osmosis/Ultra Filtration
• Ozonation
• Certified Installer

Godwin Plumbing is also a contributing member to both the national WQA and the Michigan MWQA.

Because we are not a franchise we are able to hand select our distributors and product line. Our main supplier Hellenbrand is more than your basic product distributor. Hellenbrand's staff includes engineers and chemists who not only help with difficult water treatment applications, but also have been responsible for pioneering many of the technological advancements made in the industry (including the Iron Curtain, ProMate 6, and residential brine reclaim).

With Godwin Quality Water, you are not only able to work with a trusted long-standing local business, but also with one of the most knowledgeable water treatment companies in Michigan.

"Red" Brummel was the founder of Godwin Hardware & Plumbing and was a very special individual and businessman. To this day, his business practices, demeanor, and attitude serve as a model for the way Godwin operates. Anyone who knew him will never forget him or what he did for the company, employees, and community. In 1955 he borrowed money and signed a lease to fulfill his dream of his owning a business and started a hardware store on the corner of Calhoun St. and S. Division Ave. (just a couple doors south of our present location). He, his wife Louise, and Al Wiersma were the only employees and they sold sump pumps, water heaters and other plumbing items as well as having a complete hardware selection. They soon hired Gene DeBoer to help install the plumbing equipment and by the late 1950's they had already outgrown their facility. For a while they used a warehouse at the old "Bigelow Field" (close to where McDonald's is now) for the plumbing division. As the company grew and Godwin started plumbing houses, other employees were hired, including Don Vredevoogd as a licensed plumber, and it wasn't long before a new and larger store was needed. In June of 1963 a "Grand Opening" for the new building (our present main store) was held and after many additions and changes we have our present facility, which is now being added to and changed again.

The ownership of Godwin has also changed many times over the years. In 1970, Red split Godwin Hardware & Plumbing into two separate companies. He and his wife kept 100% of the hardware business and sold 50% of the plumbing company to five key employees, Don Vredevoogd, Mel Visser, Ed VanderWal, Herm Dykstra, and his son, Ron Brummel. After a number of years, Ron decided to venture out on his own and left Godwin Plumbing. Don handled the service department, Mel took care of the commercial accounts, Ed was the resident bookkeeper, and Herm used his sales skill he learned as a cookie salesman to handle the retail sales and buying. In 1981 Red sold his share of Godwin Plumbing to the four other owners but continued with the ownership of the hardware and the property as well as other interests.

Walt DeVries, Bob Post, and Pete Wierenga each bought a small amount of shares of the plumbing company. All three of the "new" owners had worked "out in the field" and worked their way up through the ranks as apprentices, journeymen, and then master plumbers. Bob worked in the hardware for about one and a half years after high school and then after 3 years in the Navy he started plumbing in 1968 and moved into the office in 1976. Pete started at Godwin right after high school in 1972 and worked in many facets of the company including new construction (both residential and commercial), heating, and service. Walt was a school teacher and decided that this was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life so he got a job at Godwin as a plumber in 1976 and moved into commercial estimating about 3 years later.

Don was the first to retire in 1983 and sold his shares back to the company and in 1987 the others retired also. In June of 1987, Walt, Bob and Pete signed the papers for complete ownership of Godwin Plumbing. In February of 1987, "Red" died of a heart attack while golfing in Florida and in July 1988 they bought the hardware from Louise and started the other branches after that. Over the years there have been many changes in management and leadership positions. The companies have grown from 3 people in 1955 to 65 people including 35 plumbers on the road in 1980 and then to the present size of a total of 185 employees, which includes about 90 plumbers on the road.

Now it's time to start working toward a new and promising era of Godwin Plumbing. Bob decided it was time to start scaling back on work a little and as of January 1, 2000, Bob sold a portion of his ownership in Godwin Plumbing to Bruce DeBoer, Rick Lameyer, and Tim Buist. These three newest owners have proven themselves over the years as leaders and work extremely hard every day for the benefit and advancement of the company. Rick joined his father in working as a plumber for Godwin in 1977 and was the main residential "rough-in man" for many years. He moved into the office a couple of years ago and took over the scheduling duties as well as many other chores. Bruce started at Godwin in 1978 and worked most of the time as a job foreman for commercial plumbing jobs. He moved into the office in 1991 as a commercial Project Manager and quotes and handles many important accounts including Dan Vos Construction. Tim Buist joined Godwin Plumbing right out of high school in 1980 and worked in the warehouse and then for Godwin Fire Protection while that branch was operating. Shortly after the fire protection business closed he moved into the office and took over the Service Manager duties from Don and since has assumed the job of General Manager, which includes a variety of responsibilities. These three men have always worked very hard for Godwin Plumbing and they plan to continue the same basic business ethics and practices that have worked in the past and have nothing but the highest of expectations for our company.

Under the leadership and visions of the present owners and the excellent jobs that all of our hard working managers, foremen, and employees are doing, we see nothing but continued success and a great place to work for every employee at Godwin Hardware & Plumbing. It certainly is a concentrated team effort over the last 50 years that has made Godwin Hardware & Plumbing the leader that it is today. There will always be changes in companies and the latest leader changes at Godwin is just the first step in the next phase of a promising and even greater future.