Serving the Texas Hill Country & San Antonio since 1989
Helotes sits right where San Antonio city water gives way to Hill Country wells. Which side of that line you are on decides what your system needs, so we start by testing it.
Most homes in and around the city of Helotes are on San Antonio Water System supply, which is drawn largely from the Edwards Aquifer. It is safe, treated water, and it is still hard enough to scale a water heater, spot glassware and leave a crust on fixtures.
City water here also carries chloramine as its disinfectant. That gives it the taste and smell many people notice at the tap, and it needs catalytic carbon to remove rather than a softener.
Head north or west into the hills toward Grey Forest and the Bandera County line and the picture changes. Properties there are often on private wells drawing from the Trinity aquifer, with nothing removed before it reaches the house.
Everything we do is available across Helotes, Grey Forest, Scenic Oaks and the rest of northwest Bexar County.
Ion-exchange softening sized to your hardness reading, for city and well supplies.
Iron, sulfur, sediment, bacteria and pH, the pre-treatment a well needs.
Carbon and sediment stages for chlorine, taste, odor and grit at every tap.
A lot of Helotes homeowners buy a softener, solve the scale, and still dislike the water. That is because the chloramine SAWS uses to keep water safe through miles of pipe passes straight through a softener. Ordinary carbon struggles with it too.
The fix is a whole house system with two jobs: catalytic carbon to take out the chloramine and the taste that comes with it, and a softener sized to your hardness reading. Built in the right order, every tap in the house benefits, not just the kitchen.
We have been testing and treating water in this part of Texas since 1989, and we answer the phone ourselves.
Family-owned, locally operated, and still on the same phone number after thirty-six years.
Class 3 certified by the Texas Water Commission and licensed by the Water Quality Association.
We supply the equipment and install it ourselves, with one written price that covers the whole system.
Softening, filtration and drinking water designed as one system for every tap, shower and appliance.
We test at your property, explain the numbers and put the recommendation in writing, at no charge.
Capacity and stages chosen from your test result, not from a regional average or a catalogue page.
If you are close to Helotes and not listed, call anyway. We probably cover you.
City supply, hard water and everything north of Loop 1604.
Kendall County, city water and Trinity wells.
Bandera County, the Medina River and private wells.
Yes. City supply here comes mostly from the Edwards Aquifer, which runs through limestone, and private wells in the hills are usually harder still. A free test gives you your exact number.
SAWS uses chloramine as its disinfectant. It is safe, but it carries a taste and smell that a softener cannot remove. Catalytic carbon filtration takes care of it.
Hardness, iron, pH, sediment and bacteria at a minimum. Trinity aquifer wells vary a lot from one property to the next, so we test before recommending anything.
Most Helotes homes on city water benefit from both, because hardness and chloramine are separate problems. We size each stage from your test results, and we tell you if one is enough.
Yes, along with the rest of northwest Bexar County and out toward Bandera and Boerne.
It depends on your water and your household size. After the free test you get a firm written price for the complete system, installed.
Helotes water is hard on both sides of the city line. City supply and private wells both carry the calcium and magnesium that limestone puts there.
City water here is chloraminated. That is good for safety and bad for taste, and it needs catalytic carbon rather than a softener to remove.
On city water the usual answer is two stages. Catalytic carbon for chloramine, then a softener sized to your hardness reading.
On a well the order of treatment matters. Sediment first, then iron or sulfur, then softening, then UV if bacteria shows up.
Hill properties often have older wells. Many have never been tested beyond the original driller report, so we test before specifying anything.
We have served Helotes and northwest San Antonio since 1989. We supply the equipment and install it ourselves, as one job with one written price.
A whole house system treats every tap. Showers, laundry, the water heater and the kitchen all get the same treated water, not just one faucet.
Testing is free and carries no obligation. Some visits end with us telling you a smaller system will do the job.
| Helotes supply | Common issue | What we usually fit |
|---|---|---|
| City water | Scale and spotting | Correctly sized ion-exchange softener |
| City water | Chloramine taste and smell | Whole-house catalytic carbon |
| Private well | Orange staining from iron | Iron filter ahead of the softener |
| Private well | Cloudy after rain | Sediment pre-filtration |
| Private well | Bacteria present | UV disinfection |
| Any supply | Flat drinking water | Reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap |
Is Helotes water hard? Yes. Both SAWS city supply and Trinity aquifer wells in the area test hard, and wells usually test harder.
Does a softener remove chloramine? No. Chloramine needs catalytic carbon filtration. A softener only removes hardness.
Is my well water treated? No. Private wells are unregulated and untreated. Testing is the first step before anything is installed.
Do you cover all of northwest Bexar County? Yes, Helotes, Grey Forest, Scenic Oaks and the surrounding area.
Helotes grew up along Helotes Creek on the edge of the Balcones Escarpment. That edge is where the Edwards and Trinity aquifers meet, which is why two neighbors a mile apart can have very different water.
The Edwards is the source behind most San Antonio city supply. It is a limestone aquifer, and limestone dissolves into exactly the calcium and magnesium that make water hard.
The Trinity sits below and west of it. Wells into the Trinity often bring iron, sediment and sometimes sulfur along with the hardness, and quality can change a lot between properties.
Chloramine is a city water issue, not a well water issue. If you are on SAWS and dislike the taste, that is almost always what you are noticing.
Iron shows up as orange staining on fixtures and laundry. It has to come out before the softener, or it fouls the resin and shortens the life of the whole system.
Our advice for anyone in Helotes is simple. Find out whether you are on city water or a well, get the water tested, and size the system from the numbers.
Check any of this against the primary sources:
Free on-site testing across Helotes, Grey Forest, Scenic Oaks and northwest Bexar County.
