Serving the Texas Hill Country & San Antonio since 1989
WQA-Certified  ·  Texas Class 3 Licensed  ·  Open 24/7
Gaines Soft Water

Water treatment services for homes, wells and businesses

Everything we do, in one place. Testing, softening, filtration, reverse osmosis, well water treatment and commercial systems, designed, installed and serviced by one family-owned company since 1989.

A person holding a glass of clear drinking water
Core services

The six things most people call us about

Which of these you need comes out of the test. Most homes need two of them. Very few need all six.

Water softeners installed and serviced in San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country

Water Softeners

Ion-exchange softening sized to your hardness reading, for city and well supplies.

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Whole-house water filtration tanks and filter housings on a home water line

Whole-House Filtration

Carbon and sediment stages for chlorine, taste, odor and grit at every tap.

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Under-sink reverse osmosis drinking water system

Reverse Osmosis

Under-sink RO for drinking and cooking water, removing the dissolved solids filtration leaves behind.

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Salt free water conditioner compared with an ion exchange softener

Salt-Free Conditioners

What a salt-free system actually does, and the cases where we recommend one.

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Water filter housings and cartridges used in whole-house treatment systems

Water Testing & Analysis

Free on-site testing for hardness, iron, pH and more, before anything gets quoted.

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Commercial water treatment equipment installed for a San Antonio business

Commercial & Industrial

Capacity-sized treatment for restaurants, salons, car washes and manufacturing.

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Well water

Private wells, treated properly

A well is not a smaller version of city water. It gets its own set of services, and its own way of thinking about the problem.

Well water treatment tanks and pressure vessels

Well Water Treatment

Iron, sulfur, sediment, bacteria and pH, the pre-treatment a well needs.

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Water softener installed for a Fredericksburg home in Gillespie County

Well Water Filtration

Media, stages and sizing for iron, manganese, sulfur and sediment on a private well.

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Well water testing for a private well in the Texas Hill Country

Well Water Testing

Annual testing, bacteria panels and the checks worth running after a flood.

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Well water treatment system for a Canyon Lake property

Hard Water on a Well

Why softening a well is different, and what has to happen before the softener.

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Gaines softwater well water treatment

Well System Service

Annual service, media replacement, UV lamps and emergency repair for well systems.

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Whole-home water treatment systems installed in a Texas Hill Country property

Water Treatment Systems

How the stages combine into one system, and why the order matters.

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How we work

We test before we quote. Every time.

Two houses on the same road can need entirely different treatment, because one is on the city supply and the other is on a well. Selling equipment before measuring the water is how people end up with systems that do not fix what was bothering them.

So the first visit is a test, at your property, at no charge. You get your numbers, an explanation of what they mean, and a written recommendation. If the numbers do not justify equipment, we tell you that instead. It happens more often than you would think.

Water filter housings and cartridges used in whole-house treatment systems
How it works

Three visits, no surprises

Nobody should buy a water system from a brochure. Here is what actually happens.

Step one

Free on-site water test

We test what is coming out of your tap or your well, hardness in grains per gallon, iron, pH, odor, sediment, and look at your plumbing. About twenty minutes, no charge.

Step two

A system sized to the result

A written recommendation and a firm price based on your numbers and your household use. If a smaller unit does the job, we say so.

Step three

Installed, then serviced for good

Installation by a licensed technician, then filters, settings checks and 24/7 repair for as long as you own the system.

Why Gaines

Thirty-six years, one family, the same phone number

We are not a franchise and we are not a call centre. The person who tests your water works for the company that installs and services it.

Locally owned since 1989

Deep roots in San Antonio and the Hill Country, and customers who have been with us for decades.

WQA-licensed, Class 3 certified

Class 3 certified by the Texas Water Commission and licensed by the Water Quality Association.

Every major brand serviced

We install and service all major brands, even if the system was not purchased from us.

24/7 emergency repair

A leaking or failed system does not wait for business hours. Neither do we.

Any property type

From single-family homes to restaurants, salons and industrial facilities, sized to the load.

Free testing and estimates

On-site testing and a written estimate cost nothing, with no obligation attached.

Common questions

Questions people ask before they call

With the test. It costs nothing, it takes about twenty minutes at your property, and it tells us hardness, iron, pH, sulfur and sediment. Everything else follows from those numbers.

No. On-site testing and a written estimate are both free, with no obligation to buy anything.

Yes, and it is a large part of our work. We repair and maintain every major brand, including Rainsoft, Culligan, Rayne, Kinetico, Hague, Sears, General Electric and Water Boss.

Across San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country, Boerne, Bulverde, Spring Branch, New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Comfort, Bandera, Blanco, Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Helotes, Marble Falls, San Marcos and Seguin among others.

Yes, for emergency repairs. A failed valve or a leaking tank does not wait for business hours, and neither do we.

Since 1989. Same family, same phone number, and a fair number of customers who have been with us for most of that time.

Our water treatment services, in short

Our water treatment services cover the whole path from testing to long-term maintenance, for homes on city supply and for properties on private wells across San Antonio and the Hill Country.

Everything starts with a free on-site test. All of our water treatment services are specified from measured numbers rather than assumptions, because equipment chosen without a test is guesswork.

Softening is the most requested of our water treatment services here, simply because Hill Country hardness commonly runs 15 to 25 grains per gallon and nothing else removes it.

Filtration is the next most common. Chlorine on municipal supplies and iron, sulfur or sediment on wells all need filtration, and none of them respond to softening.

Drinking water is usually handled at one tap. Reverse osmosis is the most targeted of our water treatment services, dealing with taste and dissolved solids where you actually drink.

Well water is a specialism rather than an add-on. Those water treatment services follow a strict order: sediment, then iron and sulfur, then softening, then disinfection if bacteria are present.

Commercial work is sized on metered demand. Restaurants, salons, clinics and car washes need water treatment services designed so servicing never interrupts trading.

Repair is a large part of what we do. We service every major brand, including systems we did not install, which matters in a region where installers have come and gone over the decades.

Emergency callout runs around the clock. Water treatment services are only useful if somebody answers when a system fails at an inconvenient hour, so we run 24/7.

Maintenance is deliberately simple. We favour equipment a homeowner can keep running, because water treatment services that require a specialist for every small task get neglected.

We have provided water treatment services across the region since 1989 as a family business, with WQA-certified and Texas Class 3 licensed technicians.

Testing carries no obligation. A fair share of visits end with us explaining the numbers and recommending nothing at all, which is a perfectly good outcome.

ServiceWho it suitsStarts with
Water softeningAnyone on hard waterFree hardness test
Whole-house filtrationChlorine, iron, sulfur, sedimentFree on-site test
Reverse osmosisDrinking and cooking waterTaste and dissolved solids check
Well water treatmentPrivate well ownersFull well test including bacteria
Commercial systemsRestaurants, salons, clinicsMetered demand survey
Repair and servicingAny existing system, any brandDiagnostic visit

Common questions

Do you charge for the water test? No. The on-site visit is free across all our water treatment services. Laboratory work is quoted before anything is sent.

Will you service a system you did not install? Yes. Repair on other companies equipment is a large share of our water treatment services.

Do you cover commercial premises? Yes, sized on metered demand and scheduled around your trading hours.

How quickly can you come out? We run 24/7 emergency callout across San Antonio and the Hill Country.

Choosing between water treatment services is easier once the test results are in front of you. The numbers usually make the shortlist obvious, and they turn a sales conversation into a technical one.

We are happy to phase water treatment services over time. Many households fix the daily annoyance first and add the rest a season later, and that is a perfectly sound way to budget.

Whatever combination of water treatment services you end up with, keep the test results and service records together. They make future work faster and they matter at resale.

Are your water treatment services available outside San Antonio? Yes. Our water treatment services cover Boerne, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, San Marcos, Bandera and Blanco as well as the city itself.

Can I book water treatment services for a rental or second home? Yes, and we will size the equipment for actual occupancy. Water treatment services for holiday lets often need more capacity than the bedroom count suggests.

What do your water treatment services cost? The test is free and the quote follows the results, because pricing water treatment services before testing is guesswork.

Check any of this against the primary sources:

Start with a free water test

Twenty minutes at your property, your numbers in writing, and an honest recommendation. Anywhere from San Antonio to Fredericksburg.