Water softener installation in San Antonio

Water Filtration San Antonio is an independent referral service, not an installer or plumber. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local water treatment pro who can contact you and quote the work.

The San Antonio permit: LSR or a regular plumbing permit

The City of San Antonio’s Development Services Department explains its Limited Service Repair (LSR) permit program in Information Bulletin 121c. Two softener jobs are on its list:

• The replacement of an existing water purifier or water softener
• The installation of a water purifier or water softener in an existing building that is pre-plumbed for it, with the piping already in place and no additional piping

Anything beyond that, such as running new piping to create a softener loop where there is none, needs a regular plumbing permit. The bulletin also keeps LSR to like-for-like work: relocating the unit, or replacing it with a different type or size (its example is a 1-inch water purifier/water softener replaced with a 3/4-inch one), needs a regular plumbing permit. That is why one of the first questions an installer should ask is whether your house already has a loop. A loop is piping already in place for a softener; ask the installer to look for one, because whether your house has it decides which permit applies. Ask the installer which permit your job needs and who files it, and keep a copy of it with the paperwork for the house.

The Texas license: Water Treatment Specialist or plumber

Texas regulates who may do this work. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Water Treatment Specialist rule (30 TAC Chapter 30, Subchapter H) applies to any individual who under contract installs, exchanges, connects, maintains or services fixed or portable water treatment equipment in a public or private water system in Texas. That person needs a Water Treatment Specialist license unless they are exempt, and plumbers licensed under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1301 are exempt.

Who	What the rule allows
Water Treatment Specialist, Class II	Install and service water treatment equipment such as softeners
Water Treatment Specialist, Class III	Also reverse osmosis and deionization equipment, or supervise that work
Texas licensed plumber (Chapter 1301)	Exempt from the Water Treatment Specialist license

If you plan to add a reverse osmosis unit at the kitchen sink at the same time, the Class III rule matters: ask whoever quotes it which license covers that part of the work.

What the installation involves

Every house is different, but a whole-house softener install covers the same parts. Ask the installer to walk you through each of them on your own house before you agree to anything.

1. Where it goes. The softener is connected to the main water line so that the water you want softened passes through it. In a pre-plumbed house that is the loop; otherwise the installer proposes a spot and the piping to reach it.
2. What stays hard. Ask which taps will be softened and which, such as an outdoor hose bib, will stay on hard water.
3. The bypass. A bypass valve lets water flow around the softener when it is being serviced, so the house still has water.
4. The drain. When the softener regenerates it sends brine and rinse water to a drain. Ask where that drain connection will be and how it meets code.
5. Power and settings. If the control valve needs power, ask where the outlet will be. The installer sets the valve for your measured hardness and household, and shows you how to read it.
6. Salt and start-up. The brine tank is filled and the unit is started. Ask for a hardness test once it is running.

Sizing comes before installation

A softener is only as good as its size for your water. SAWS gives a typical hardness of 15 to 20 grains per gallon, but the installer should test the water at your tap rather than rely on a city-wide figure. Softener capacity is counted in grains: hardness in grains per gallon multiplied by the gallons your household uses in a day gives the grains the unit must remove. The water softener page has a worked example. Ask to see the figures behind the size you are quoted.

Choosing the unit

TCEQ’s advice for home water treatment is to select a unit certified by NSF, Underwriter’s Laboratory or the Water Quality Association to remove the contaminant you are concerned about. For a softener, the standard is NSF/ANSI 44, which covers residential softeners using a cation exchange resin regenerated with sodium or potassium chloride. If a quote is for a salt-free unit, it is a different technology from ion exchange: ask what it is certified for.

Two more points to raise. Water utilities commonly note that some softening systems can increase the corrosivity of the water, which can damage the anodes in a water heater, so ask how the unit will be set and whether the water heater’s anode should be checked. And because a salt-based softener adds sodium in exchange for the hardness it removes, anyone on a sodium-restricted diet should ask their doctor and ask the installer about potassium chloride.

Replacing an old softener

A like-for-like replacement is one of the jobs on the city’s list: IB 121c names the replacement of an existing water softener among the jobs the LSR permit program covers, as long as the new unit is the same type and size. Ask the installer whether the old unit’s bypass and drain connections can be reused or should be replaced, what happens to the old softener, and whether the new unit should be sized differently from the old one. If the household has grown, or the old unit was undersized for SAWS water, the new one may need more capacity, and a different size takes the job out of the LSR program and into a regular plumbing permit.

It is also a good moment to look at what else sits on the line. If you have a filter or an RO unit beside the old softener, ask whether it should be serviced at the same visit so that every piece is starting fresh.

Before the installer visits

• Your latest water bill, to show who supplies your water
• Where the main line enters, and whether there is a capped loop
• The make and rough age of any softener being replaced
• How many people live in the house and how many bathrooms you have
• Whether you want an outdoor tap left on hard water
• Whether you also want filtered or RO water at the kitchen sink

Comparing two quotes

Quotes for the same job can look very different. Put them side by side and check that each one answers the same questions in writing:

1. The make, model and capacity of the softener, and its NSF/ANSI 44 certification
2. The hardness measured at your house and the sizing behind the capacity
3. Which permit applies (LSR or a regular plumbing permit) and who files it
4. The Texas license held by the person doing the work
5. What piping, drain and electrical work is included
6. The maker’s maintenance schedule and what servicing will involve

If one quote leaves those out, ask for them before you decide. The cheapest-looking quote may simply be missing the permit or the drain work. For a softener that is already in and not working, see softener repair; for upkeep, see softener service.

Questions people ask