San Antonio, Texas
Saws Main system, Edwards and other aquifers. Free chlorine residual is printed. Hardness is not on the 2025 Main table we opened — we did not invent grains.
Texas · Salt-softener legality
- Free chlorineavg 1.41 ppm
What to do in San Antonio
Whole-house carbon for chlorine
No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up.
That is chlorine. A whole-house carbon filter with an NSF/ANSI 42 chlorine claim is the usual match. A softener will not take chlorine out.
The disinfectant is chlorine. Whole-house carbon is the usual taste/odor box.
Amazon lists shipping and returns on that product page. We do not warehouse the equipment.
Also for the kitchen
Under-sink reverse osmosis
Cloud RO is an under-sink reverse osmosis system — NSF/ANSI 58, kitchen tap, not a whole-house tank. The primary button is a tagged Amazon under-sink RO listing. Cloud buy-direct and Waterdrop sit under that. Check the exact listing if PFAS is why you are shopping. A certifier-listed pitcher is the cheap first step.
Buy Cloud RO directShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers
Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission. That does not change the match, and it is not a medical claim.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Other options that still fit
Confirm hardness on the current CCR before buying
Open the current CCR for grains. We do not invent a number from a ranking site. A salt softener needs a drain if it is legal at the address.
Shop salt-based softenersShop salt-free conditionersShop water test kits
Test the tap first
A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.
Softener vs carbon vs under-sink RO
A sketch for San Antonio, tied to the best match above. Not a quote.
| Box | What it does | Ballpark (estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Salt-based softener | Removes hardness. Needs a drain. Illegal in some sewer districts. | About $800–$2,500 for a common residential unit (equipment). Installed jobs run higher. |
| Whole-house carbonBest match | Chlorine or chloramine taste — match the listing. Does not soften. | About $400–$1,800 for a typical tank-and-head kit (equipment). |
| Under-sink reverse osmosisBest match | Kitchen tap. Check NSF/ANSI 58 if PFAS or nitrate is why you are shopping. | About $200–$600 on Amazon search; named under-sink units vary. |
These are ballpark equipment ranges, not installed quotes and not what a dealer will write on a kitchen-table sheet. Prices move. Confirm the sewer rule before you price a brine tank.
On the report
- Water utility
- San Antonio Water System
- Hardness
- Not printed on the 2025 Saws Main report table we opened. Open that PDF or test the tap. We do not copy an Edwards-aquifer folklore number. — SAWS 2025 Water Quality Report (Main)
- Disinfectant
- Free chlorine residual, 2024 data in the 2025 Main report: average 1.41 ppm (0.14–6.40). — SAWS 2025 Water Quality Report (Main)
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. No Saws residential brine ban like Measure S turned up. Ask the sewer utility on the bill.
How to get your water tested
The report on this page is for the public water system. It is not a test of the faucet in one house. Pipes inside a house can change the water.
For a test of your own tap, use a laboratory on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality list of certified drinking-water labs.
If your water comes from a private well, test it once a year. A city water report does not cover a private well.
Also around here
Extra context besides the utility report and the chart above — geology, an unregulated table, or a published study. Not a second set of printed tap numbers.
- MicroplasticsWHO’s 2019 review examined studies that found microplastic particles in treated tap and bottled water in many places. That is a published-occurrence finding, not a number from this city’s water-quality report, and we do not invent a particles-per-liter count for the tap.Microplastics in drinking-water — World Health Organization
- Pharmaceuticals in Edwards rechargeUsgs, with Saws, sampled pharmaceuticals in the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer recharge zone. They reported detections more often in recharging streams than in groundwater. That is a basin study, not a Saws distribution average.Occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer — U.S. Geological Survey / San Antonio Water System
- PFASEPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule required community systems this size to test 29 PFAS and lithium in 2023–2025. Open the UCMR 5 Data Finder for this PWS. We do not invent a detection.Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Questions we can answer from the report
How hard is San Antonio tap water?
Not printed on the 2025 Saws Main report table we opened. Open that PDF or test the tap. We do not copy an Edwards-aquifer folklore number. Source: SAWS 2025 Water Quality Report (Main).
Does San Antonio use chlorine or chloramine?
Free chlorine residual, 2024 data in the 2025 Main report: average 1.41 ppm (0.14–6.40). Source: SAWS 2025 Water Quality Report (Main).
Is a salt-based water softener legal in San Antonio?
No district prohibition found. No Saws residential brine ban like Measure S turned up. Ask the sewer utility on the bill. No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up. This is not a legal opinion.
What should I do about San Antonio tap water?
Whole-house carbon for chlorine. That is chlorine. A whole-house carbon filter with an NSF/ANSI 42 chlorine claim is the usual match. A softener will not take chlorine out. If the job is drinking water at the kitchen, under-sink reverse osmosis is the usual path. Cloud RO is the preferred Amazon listing on this site (tag tapmatch-20). We do not claim we use it.
Sources
- 2025 Water Quality Report — Main — San Antonio Water System. Accessed 2026-08-31.
Updated August 31, 2026. Numbers here are what the utility's report or the state record printed, plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.