Whole-home filtration · Buda, Kyle & San Marcos
Whole-home filtration, for every tap in the house
A whole-home filtration system removes chlorine taste and smell from city water at the point it enters your house. One tank of activated carbon treats every shower, faucet, and appliance, so water tastes and smells clean everywhere in the house, from the kitchen tap to the shower.
Why does my water taste like a pool?
Because the utility is doing its job. City water in Buda, Kyle, and San Marcos is disinfected so it arrives safe, and the disinfectant is still in the water when it reaches your tap. That's by design, and the levels are regulated and safe.
But safe and pleasant aren't the same thing. Once the water is inside your home, the chlorine has finished its work, and there's no reason to drink it, brew with it, or breathe it in a hot shower. Taking it out at the point of entry is exactly what carbon filtration is for.
How it works
How does whole-home filtration work?
One tank does two jobs. It catches the grit, then strips the chlorine. Here's the path your water takes.
Sediment gets caught first
A sediment layer catches grit, sand, and rust flakes before they reach the finer media below. That protects the carbon and your fixtures.
Carbon takes out the chlorine
Water passes through a bed of activated carbon, which adsorbs chlorine and the compounds behind most taste and odor complaints. Adsorb means they stick to the carbon's surface and stay there.
Every tap gets clean water
The system sits where water enters your home, so showers, laundry, ice makers, and every faucet get the same treated water. There are no cartridges to swap every month.
Typical installed range
$1,800–$4,200
Every home differs. The free water test gives you a firm number before any work starts.
See all pricingWhat that includes
- Whole-home carbon filtration system
- Professional installation to code
- Startup and a walkthrough
What changes
What filtered water changes at home
The differences show up in the first week, mostly in the kitchen and the shower.
Showers stop smelling like a pool
Warm water releases chlorine into the air fast, which is why you notice it most in the shower. Carbon filtration takes it out before it gets there.
Coffee and tea taste like they should
Chlorine flattens flavor. Brewing with filtered water is the single cheapest upgrade your kitchen can get.
Ice comes out clean
Fridge ice picks up every off-taste in the line feeding it. Treated water means ice that tastes like nothing, which is the point.
One system replaces all the small filters
A whole-home unit replaces the patchwork of pitcher filters, faucet attachments, and fridge cartridges scattered around the house.
Straight talk
Filtration doesn't fix hard water
Carbon is great at chlorine, taste, and odor. It does nothing to the calcium and magnesium that scale up water heaters and spot dishes. Around here, most homes feel both problems, which is why filtration and a water softener are often installed as a pair.
Ask what media is inside and what it removes. We're happy to walk you through ours.
Questions
Questions we get about filtration
Is the chlorine in city water dangerous?
No. Utilities are required to disinfect water on its way to you, and the levels at your tap are regulated and safe. It's a taste and smell issue, not a safety issue. The disinfectant did its job in the pipes. You just don't have to drink or shower in it.
What's the difference between chlorine and chloramine?
Both are disinfectants. Chloramine (chlorine bonded with ammonia) lasts longer in pipes and needs a specific media, catalytic carbon, to remove well. Part of the free test is confirming what your utility uses, so the system we spec actually matches your water.
Does whole-home filtration soften water?
No. Carbon removes chlorine, taste, and odor compounds, but it doesn't touch calcium or magnesium, so it won't stop scale or make soap lather better. If you have both complaints, a softener and filtration pair well and cost less installed together.
Will it drop my water pressure?
A correctly sized system doesn't produce a drop you'd notice. Sizing to your home's flow rate is part of the spec, which is one reason we look at the house and not just the water.
How long does the carbon last?
It lasts years, not months. Lifespan depends on how much water your household runs through it and how much chlorine it's removing. When the media is spent, we replace it in place. You don't buy a new system.
Can I retire my fridge and pitcher filters?
Mostly, yes. Once every line in the house carries filtered water, downstream cartridges have little left to do. Some people keep the fridge filter for a final polish. Plenty don't.
Find out what's in your water first
The free test measures chlorine at your tap along with hardness, iron, and TDS. Then you'll know whether filtration alone does it, or what to pair it with.
What you get
- Hardness, chlorine, iron, and TDS tested at your tap
- Results explained in plain English, yours to keep
- A recommendation sized to your home (only if you want one)