Learn · Start Here
This page assumes no prior knowledge. If you've never thought about carbon versus reverse osmosis, or chlorine versus chloramine, start here — every other page on this site builds on what's below.
Why filtration exists
Tap water in the United States is treated to be safe to drink. Filtration isn't primarily about making unsafe water safe — it's about addressing substances in your water that affect taste, smell, or clarity, even at safe levels. That might mean the taste of chlorine, sediment that makes water look cloudy, or a broader set of dissolved substances some households choose to reduce further. That's the starting point for everything on this page, beginning with a few terms worth knowing first.
A few words, defined simply
Physically or chemically removing specific substances — disinfectants, dissolved solids, particles — as water passes through a material (like carbon) or a barrier (like a membrane).
Physical particles — dirt, rust, sand — suspended in water rather than dissolved. Visible at higher levels, and removed by basic mechanical filtration.
A disinfectant added directly to water. Effective, but breaks down relatively quickly and can leave a distinct taste and smell. Standard carbon filtration removes it well.
Formed by combining chlorine with ammonia. More stable and longer-lasting in water than chlorine alone, which is why many utilities use it — but that same stability makes it resist standard carbon, requiring catalytic carbon to remove effectively.
A measure of substances actually dissolved in water at a molecular level — minerals, salts, and more. Invisible, unaffected by sediment filtration, and not a measure of safety by itself — but a common reference point for comparing carbon and reverse osmosis.
A barrier with microscopic pores, used in reverse osmosis, that water is pushed through under pressure to separate out dissolved substances.
Ultraviolet light — a wavelength invisible to the eye — damages the DNA of bacteria and other microorganisms as water passes through a chamber, so they can no longer reproduce. Nothing is added to the water, so taste and smell stay the same.
The two basic approaches
Carbon filtration works by adsorption — water passes through activated carbon, which attracts and holds onto chlorine and chloramine. It's very effective for taste, odor, and clarity, but doesn't meaningfully reduce dissolved minerals, fluoride, nitrates, or heavy metals.
"Activated carbon" is the same material as charcoal, processed further to create an enormous number of microscopic pockets and tunnels — a single gram can have a surface area of several hundred to over a thousand square meters, packed into something the size of a coffee ground. That surface area is what does the work: chlorine and chloramine molecules physically stick to it as water passes through, the same way a sponge holds water, rather than being neutralized by a chemical reaction.
Reverse osmosis pushes water through a membrane fine enough to block a much broader range of dissolved substances. It requires more maintenance, produces some reject water, and removes beneficial minerals unless paired with remineralization.
Neither approach is universally better — they solve different problems.
If you're in the greater Houston area
Beor serves the greater Houston region — Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Liberty, Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, Waller, Walker, San Jacinto, Wharton, Matagorda, and Colorado counties. Within Houston itself and across Harris County, most water systems use chloramine rather than chlorine: the City of Houston has used it as its primary disinfectant for years, and many surrounding Harris County municipal utility districts have converted from chlorine to chloramine in recent years, with some conversions still ongoing.
Further out, it varies more. Smaller municipal systems in the outlying counties may use chlorine or chloramine depending on the provider, and many rural properties in this region rely on private wells rather than a municipal system at all. There's no substitute for checking your own water source directly, wherever you are in the service area.
That matters because standard carbon filters handle chlorine well but chloramine poorly — removing chloramine effectively takes catalytic carbon, not standard carbon media. Don't assume, though: confirm your specific utility's current disinfectant on your annual water quality report before choosing a system.
If you're served by the City of Houston directly, view your Consumer Confidence Report here. Anywhere else in the service area, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's Drinking Water Viewer lets you search by county or provider name to find your specific water system's report. Your water bill will show which utility serves you.
The best first step
If you're on municipal water, your utility publishes an annual water quality report listing your disinfectant type and other details — usually available on their website or by request. If you're on well water, testing is the only way to know for certain what's present.
Either way, you don't have to take a utility's report — or our word — at face value. Independent, state-accredited testing is available to anyone, not just municipalities, and it's the same caliber of testing a city itself is required to use.
Independent testing
TCEQ requires all drinking water data reported to the state to come from an accredited laboratory — the same accreditation standard applies whether the sample comes from a city or from your own kitchen tap. A & B Environmental Services, Inc. in Houston (10100 East Freeway, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77029 · (713) 453-6060) is one real, TCEQ-approved example, tested for the same core parameters municipalities are required to report: chlorine, hardness, pH, turbidity, and more.
What it costs depends entirely on scope, not on who's asking:
| Single parameter (e.g. just lead) | $15–$60 |
| Basic bacteria + nitrate | $25–$50 |
| Standard panel (chemistry + metals) | $75–$200 |
| Comprehensive panel (50–100+ contaminants) | $200–$500 |
| PFAS specifically | $75–$450 |
Worth checking before paying a private lab: county health departments often offer free or subsidized bacteria and nitrate testing.
If bacteria is the concern
Colilert (or Colilert-18) is the real, EPA-approved method labs use — it tests for Total Coliform and E. coli in the same sample, not two separate tests. Total Coliform is a broad family of bacteria; its presence means a contamination pathway exists, not necessarily an active health risk. E. coli specifically indicates fecal contamination and is the more serious result. Naming this test by name, rather than just asking for "a bacteria test," is the clearest way to make sure you get the right one.
Find your system based on your water →Systems
Each one is built for a specific water condition — not to fill a price tier. If neither fits, we'll say so.
Built for most municipal water treated with standard chlorine disinfection. Addresses taste, odor, and sediment.
View systemBuilt for chloramine-treated municipal water, using catalytic carbon that standard filters can't match.
View systemService plan
One scheduled visit a year, handled. We check in at six months in your first year just to be sure everything's right — no guessing when a filter is due, no forgetting, no blame when it isn't.
See how the plan works