Plain-English guides for the systems that keep a home running: water treatment, air filters, appliances, and related upkeep. Texas hard-water numbers stay here when they help; most how-tos are nationwide. Shopping picks live under Helpful Links.
Hardness by city
What Austin, San Antonio, Round Rock, Fort Worth, Frisco and El Paso publish, plus a sizing worksheet.
SoftPro softener guide
Which SoftPro softener, salt-free conditioner or well system fits your hardness and water source. Contains affiliate links.
Filtration: chloramine, carbon & RO
Catalytic carbon, under-sink filters, reverse osmosis, and curated SoftPro + Amazon picks. Contains affiliate links.
Helpful Links
Furnace/AC filters, fridge filters, softeners, and more—guides with affiliate product picks.
Read your water report
Find hardness in your utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report and convert it to grains.
Buying a home with a softener?
Checklist: owned or leased, age, model, service records, bypass, loop, drain, plus signs it needs replacing.
Shopping for a softener or filter? We've matched SoftPro Water Systems softeners and whole-house filters in our SoftPro guide. For a budget under-sink carbon filter aimed at chlorine, taste and odor (not hardness), see the ICEPURE WFS6310A-15 pick in our filtration guide. SoftPro and Amazon are affiliate partners: we may earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Disclosure.