If your water tastes of chlorine, smells like a swimming pool, leaves grit in the kettle or stains a white sink, water filtration is the fix. A water softener is not. The two solve different problems, and fitting the wrong one is the most expensive mistake homeowners make with water filtration in San Antonio.
A softener removes the calcium and magnesium that scale your water heater and spot your glassware. It does not remove chlorine, sediment, iron, sulphur smell or taste. If your complaint is how the water tastes or smells, a softener on its own will not change it.
What water filtration actually removes
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Chlorine and chloramine taste
The disinfectant that makes city water safe to deliver is also what most people are tasting and smelling. Carbon removes it, which is why filtered water tastes flat by comparison rather than of the pool.
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Sediment and grit
Fine sand and scale fragments that block aerators, jam toilet fill valves and score the seats in mixer taps. A sediment stage ahead of everything else protects the rest of the plumbing and the equipment behind it.
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Iron and the orange staining that follows
Rust-coloured marks in the toilet bowl, the shower tray and the laundry. Common on private wells west and north of the city, and it will ruin a softener resin bed if it is not taken out first.
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Hydrogen sulphide, the rotten-egg smell
Usually worse on the hot side. It needs oxidation or a dedicated filter; running it through a softener does nothing and shortens the softener.
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Dissolved solids at the drinking tap
Reverse osmosis at one tap handles what a whole-house filter is not designed to: total dissolved solids, sodium, and the last of the taste. It is a point-of-use job, not a whole-house one.
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Scale, by way of a softener
Hardness is the one thing water filtration does not address. If your real problem is scale on the heating element and spots on the glasses, that is a water softener, and we will tell you so rather than sell you a filter.
Three different jobs, three different pieces of equipment
Most of the confusion in this category comes from treating “water treatment” as one product. It is three, and a house can need one, two or all of them. Which you need depends on what the test says, not on what a salesperson found convenient to carry.
| What you notice | What it is | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Spots on glasses, scale on the element, soap will not lather | Hardness: calcium and magnesium | Softener |
| Chlorine taste, pool smell, flat coffee | Disinfectant residual | Whole-house carbon filter |
| Grit in the aerator, toilet fill valve sticking | Sediment | Sediment pre-filter |
| Orange staining, metallic taste | Iron | Oxidation or iron filter, ahead of the softener |
| Rotten-egg smell, worse on hot | Hydrogen sulphide | Oxidation or a dedicated filter |
| Water is fine but you still buy bottled | Dissolved solids and taste | Reverse osmosis at one tap |
Order matters as much as equipment. Sediment comes out first, then iron and sulphide, then softening, and disinfection last. Put a softener in front of untreated iron and you will be replacing the resin bed long before its time.
What drives the price
We do not publish a single figure for water filtration because the number moves more than it does on a water heater or a disposal. What it costs depends on how many stages your test actually calls for and where the equipment has to go. These are the factors that move it, and we give you the number before anything is fitted.
| Factor | Why it moves the price |
|---|---|
| How many stages the test calls for | A single carbon tank is a different job from sediment, iron, softening and UV in series. |
| Point-of-use or whole-house | An under-sink reverse osmosis unit is a fraction of a whole-house install. |
| Where the main enters the house | A garage wall with a drain nearby is straightforward. A run through a slab or an attic is not. |
| Drain and power availability | Backwashing equipment needs a drain and a receptacle. Adding either is separate work. |
| Bypass and isolation valves | Anything we fit gets valved so it can be serviced without shutting the house down. |
| Permit and inspection where required | Some jurisdictions treat treatment equipment as permitted work. We handle it either way. |
How a water filtration system gets sized
- We test the water at your house. Hardness, iron, pH and, on a private well, a laboratory analysis rather than a strip.
- We work out peak demand from fixture count and household size, because a filter that cannot pass enough flow gives you low pressure in every shower.
- We specify the stages in treatment order and tell you which ones you can skip, including the ones we would not fit if it were our house.
- You get the full number in writing before anything is ordered, with the annual running cost separated out from the installation.
If the test comes back saying you do not need water filtration, that is what we will tell you. A free in-home water test is a sales tool as often as it is a diagnostic, which is why our numbers come with the reading they were based on.
Servicing a system you already have
| Situation | The usual call |
|---|---|
| Pressure has dropped across the house | A blocked sediment cartridge. Usually a cartridge change |
| Taste has come back after a year or two | Carbon media is exhausted. Media swap rather than a new system. |
| Reverse osmosis tap runs slowly or stops | Membrane or storage tank pressure. Usually repairable |
| Equipment is leaking at the head | Valve head seals. Worth repairing on a newer unit, rarely on an old one. |
| Staining returned and the filter is over ten years old | Media and vessel both past their life. Replacement |
- Change sediment cartridges on schedule, not when pressure drops
- Have carbon media checked at the interval the manufacturer states
- Sanitise a reverse osmosis unit when the membrane is changed
- Keep a bypass valve fitted so service does not mean shutting off the house
- Retest the water after any change to the supply or a new well pump
Work is carried out by licensed plumbers under our Responsible Master Plumber, license RMP-43333, issued by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. You can verify that license yourself.
What San Antonio homeowners say
Reviews pulled live from our Google Business Profile, not retyped here.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a filter if I already have a softener?
Possibly. A softener deals with hardness and nothing else. If your complaint is taste, smell, staining or grit, the softener was never going to fix it and a filter is a separate piece of equipment.
Is San Antonio city water safe to drink without water filtration?
City water is treated to meet drinking water standards before it reaches you. Water filtration here is about taste, smell, sediment and what the disinfectant residual does to coffee and ice, not about making unsafe water safe.
Whole-house or just the kitchen tap?
Both have a place. Whole-house carbon deals with chlorine at every outlet including the shower. Reverse osmosis at one tap deals with dissolved solids and taste for drinking and cooking. Plenty of houses end up with one of each.
Will a filter fix my orange staining?
If the staining is iron, yes, but the iron has to come out before the water reaches a softener or it will destroy the resin. That sequencing is the part most often got wrong.
How often do cartridges need changing?
Sediment cartridges are the frequent ones and depend entirely on how much sediment your supply carries. Carbon media runs far longer. We set the interval from your water rather than from a box label.
Does reverse osmosis waste water?
It sends some water to drain as part of how it works. On a single drinking tap the volume is small, and newer units are better at it than older ones. On a whole-house scale it would not be the right choice.
Can you service a system another company installed?
Yes. Cartridge changes, media swaps, valve head repairs and reverse osmosis membranes on equipment we did not fit are routine work.
Do I need a permit for water treatment equipment?
It depends on the jurisdiction and on what the install involves, particularly where a drain connection is added. We deal with the permit where one is required.
What if the test says I do not need anything?
Then you do not buy anything. We would rather tell you the water is fine than fit equipment that solves a problem you do not have.
Find out what is actually in your water before you buy equipment for it.
We test at your house, tell you which stages your water calls for, and give you the number in writing before anything is ordered.
Silverback Plumbing & Drain provides licensed plumbing and drain service for homes and businesses throughout the San Antonio area. From emergency repairs to routine maintenance, we diagnose the problem, explain the fix, and get it done right the first time.
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Copyright © 2026 Silverback Plumbing and Drain
Mark Vargas, Responsible Master Plumber #43333 Licensed through the Texas Board of Plumbing Examiners P.O. Box 4200, Austin, Texas 78765 (800-845-6584)