Whole Home Water Softeners & Filters
Austin's water is hard on your pipes, your appliances and your shower doors. A whole home softener stops the scale at the source, before it reaches a single tap. We test your water first, then recommend only what your home needs.
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Whole Home Water Softeners & Water Filters in Austin, TX
A whole home water softener treats your water where it enters the house, so every tap gets the benefit. Here in Austin, that matters. Our water starts in the Colorado River and the Highland Lakes, then picks up calcium and magnesium from Central Texas limestone on the way to your tap.
That makes it hard. Hard water won't hurt your health, but it leaves scale on fixtures and appliances and can shorten the life of your plumbing. A softener fixes that at the source.
How Hard Is Austin's Water?
It's hard, but how hard depends on where you live. Central Austin runs on treated surface water from the Colorado River and the Highland Lakes. Many outlying areas in Williamson and Hays Counties draw harder groundwater, so a home in Round Rock or Kyle often sees more scale than one in central Austin.
The chart below is typical of what we find in the field. Water quality varies a lot across the area, and testing your specific property is always the best way to know. One thing worth understanding before you buy: a softener only works if it's maintained and kept filled.
| Area / Utility | Hardness (mg/L) | Grains per gallon |
| City of Austin proper | 120 to 180 | 7 to 10.5 |
| Round Rock | ~187 | ~11 |
| Leander & Lago Vista | ~175 | ~10.2 |
| Cedar Park | ~181 | ~10.6 |
| Georgetown | 170 to 340 | 10 to 20 |
| Kyle & San Marcos | 260 to 285 | 15.3 to 16.7 |
A quick test at your home tells us exactly what you're working with.
Signs You Have Hard Water
Most Austin homes have it. Look for:
- White, chalky scale on faucets, showerheads and glass
- Spots or a cloudy film on dishes and glassware
- Soap and shampoo that won't lather well
- Dry, itchy skin or dull hair after a shower
- Stiff laundry and fabrics that fade fast
- A water heater or appliances wearing out sooner than they should
What Is Hard Water?
Hard water has high levels of dissolved minerals, mostly calcium and magnesium. It's measured in parts per million (PPM) and can be treated in a few different ways to remove or suspend those minerals.
It's safe for people, but the deposits it leaves on your faucets, valves, shower doors and appliances are unsightly and cut the lifespan of a lot of equipment, including your water heater. The USGS explains how hardness forms and what it does to your pipes.
How a Water Softener Works
The standard water softener is a salt-based system. It uses a brine solution to rinse hard-water minerals off a resin inside the tank. Better models regenerate on a metered basis instead of on a daily schedule, which uses less salt and water.
There's a salt-free option. We offer the Flow-Tech salt-free anti-scale system, an electronic device that keeps minerals from sticking to your pipes, appliances and faucets, and even breaks down scale already sitting in your plumbing system.
Typical installed price is $1,800 to $2,000 and comes with a five year electrical warranty and a one year labor warranty from us. It can run longer than the warranty and does not require media replacement or salt refills. We really like devices that work and require little to no maintenance. Who doesn't?
Do You Need a Water Filter?
A softener handles hardness. It doesn't remove much else. If you want to cut chlorine, chloramine, taste and odor, that's the job of a whole home carbon filter. A good prefilter protects your softener, since chlorine and chloramine shorten the life of the resin inside it.
Plenty of Austin homes run a water softener and filters together for the full effect. A water test tells us whether you need both or just one, and we'll never sell you a system that isn't in your interest.
What Our Customers Say
Water Softeners vs Water Filters: What You Need To Know
What's in this video:
We walk through the difference between a water softener and a water filter, what each one removes, and how to tell which your home needs. If you're weighing whether to run both, this covers how they work together and what hard water does to your appliances over time.
Why Homeowners Trust Efficient with Water Treatment
We've helped greater Austin homeowners tame hard water for decades, from North Austin to Cedar Park, Buda and Dripping Springs. People choose us because we:
- Test your water and recommend only what it calls for, no upsell
- Send licensed plumbers who passed background and drug screening
- Offer salt-based and salt-free options to fit your home and habits
- Back installations with a 1-year warranty on parts and labor
- Offer financing on whole home systems
- Handle plumbing, AC and electrical with one team
Water Softener & Filter FAQs
For most homes, yes. An independent Water Quality Research Foundation study found that water heaters run on softened water held their factory efficiency for years, while hard water cut it by up to roughly a quarter as scale built up. You use less soap, fight fewer spots and get more life out of your appliances. See the research on softened water benefits.
Explore Other Plumbing Services
- Water Heater Installation & Repair covers the appliance hard water wears out fastest.
- Tankless Water Heater Installation pairs well with a softener, since scale is what shortens a tankless heat exchanger's life.
- Faucet Installation & Repair replaces the cartridges and aerators that hard water crusts over.
- Drain Cleaning clears the buildup that slows and clogs Austin drains.
- Emergency Plumbing answers 24/7 when a line or appliance fails without warning.
- Gas Line & Leak Troubleshooting & Repair handles the gas side of the house, safely and to code.
- Plumbing Services covers everything else we do for homes and businesses across the metro.
Tired of hard water? Let's fix it at the source.
Give us a call or fill out our contact form, and let's talk through the best solution for your home's hard water.
Serving Greater Austin & Central Texas
We serve homeowners and businesses across Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Bell, Llano and Comal counties in the Greater Austin area, including Allandale, Barton Creek, Bastrop, Bee Cave, Brushy Creek, Buda, Canyon Lake, Cat Hollow, Cedar Creek, Cedar Park, Clarksville, Del Valle, Downtown Austin, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Elgin, Georgetown, Granger, Great Hills, Horseshoe Bay, Hudson Bend, Hutto, Hyde Park, Jarrell, Jollyville, Jonestown, Killeen, Kingsland, Kyle, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Leander, Liberty Hill, Lost Creek, Manor, Mueller, New Braunfels, North Austin, Oak Hill, Pemberton, Pflugerville, Rollingwood, Round Rock, San Marcos, South Congress, Spanish Oaks, Spicewood, Steiner Ranch, Sun City, Tarrytown, Taylor, Temple, Travis Country, Travis Heights, Wells Branch and West Lake Hills.