Whole-House Water Filters in New Braunfels
Filtration answers a different question from softening. It's about taste, smell and trace compounds, and NBU's own reports show what there is to work with.
A whole-house water filter typically costs $1,000–$4,000 installed, averaging about $2,078 (Bob Vila, citing Angi and HomeAdvisor). In New Braunfels its main job is disinfectant taste: NBU's total chlorine averaged 2.58 ppm in 2025. Carbon doesn't soften, so hard-water scale needs a softener as well.
The disinfectant in NBU water
NBU's 2025 report lists total chlorine at a 2.58 ppm average, with a range of 0.5 to 5.4 ppm. Its 2021 and 2022 reports labeled the same line chloramines. Chloramine holds up well in long pipe runs but gives some people a pool-like taste or smell. The usual fix at the main line is a catalytic carbon tank big enough to give the water time in contact with the media, with a sediment cartridge upstream to keep grit out.
Disinfection byproducts
Byproducts form when disinfectant reacts with natural organic matter. For 2025, NBU reports total trihalomethanes at a highest locational average of 79 ppb against an 80 ppb limit, and haloacetic acids at 31 ppb against 60, with no violations (NBU 2025 report). Activated carbon is a common household choice for reducing trihalomethanes. That's an option for people who want it, not a response to a violation.
PFAS: what NBU sampled
NBU's 2024 report includes UCMR 5 results: PFHxS up to 3.7 parts per trillion, PFBA 10.2 ppt, PFPeA 3.4 ppt and PFHxA 3 ppt. PFOA and PFOS, which carry 4 ppt federal limits, don't appear among the detections. In May 2026 the EPA proposed dropping its PFHxS limit and several others while keeping PFOA and PFOS (EPA). If PFAS reduction is your goal, choose a carbon or RO system with published test data for it.
Limits and pairing
A filter leaves calcium and magnesium in the water, so scale continues without a softener. Media also wears out; Bob Vila puts yearly maintenance at $50–$300. Homes that want both usually run sediment, then carbon, then the softener. See New Braunfels water treatment prices for combined systems.
Questions homeowners ask
Cartridge housing or backwashing tank?
Cartridges cost less up front but need regular changes. A backwashing tank holds much more carbon, costs more, and can run for years between media changes. Flow rate matters for either, so showers don't lose pressure.
Will a whole-house filter help my skin or hair?
If the chlorine smell in the shower is what bothers you, carbon at the main line removes most of it. If the issue is soap scum or stiff hair from hardness, that's a softener's job, not a filter's.
Get your New Braunfels water tested free
A sentence or two is plenty: hard-water spots, a chlorine taste, an old softener. A New Braunfels water treatment specialist will phone you to follow up.