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Issue link: https://dayspamagazine.epubxp.com/i/586170
SNAPSHOT Hear the words "central Wisconsin," and wellness and cutting-edge hydrotherapy technology don't immediately spring to mind. However, you'd be discounting the fact that Kohler, Wisconsin, is home to The Kohler Company. Founded in 1873 by an Austrian immigrant, Kohler has long been a top U.S. manufacturer of bath fixtures such as tubs, toilets and sinks. It even holds the distinction of developing, in 1888, the first-ever water fountain (then called a "bubbler"). Just a stone's throw from Kohler's headquarters and factories looms evidence of the company's robust hospitality division. There's its five-diamond golf resort the American Club, a facility once used to house and prepare immigrant factory workers for their naturalization tests. And there's the place where plumbing technology goes to play: the five-star Kohler Waters Spa, launched in 2000. The standalone spa's quaint and distinctly Midwestern brown-brick facade appears attractive yet humble, considering its 25,000-square-foot, three-floor interior actually boasts a palatial oasis of hot tubs, plunge pools, whirlpools, rain showers, waterfalls and wet treatment suites. You guessed it: the emphasis at Kohler Waters Spa is hydrotherapy. PLUMB ASSIGNMENT "We know a thing or two about water," reasons Kohler Waters' spa director Garrett Mersberger. "We've been in the plumbing business for 140 years." Plumbing may not be the sexiest concept to ponder at the spa, but plumbers do manage water systems. And "spa" is commonly thought to stand for salus per aquam, Latin for "health through water", so the physiological benefits of H 2 O—reaped since ancient bathhouse times— are basically the raison d'être of our industry. Water On tap at the spa associated with America's bathtub dynasty: water. And lots of it. By Katie O'Reilly Liquid Assets Plunging into good health at Kohler Waters Spa. PHOTOS COURTESY KOHLER WATERS SPA YOURWELLNESSSPA 64 DAYSPA | NOVEMBER 2015