Whole House Water Filters for City Water 

City water buying guide

Whole house water filters for city water need catalytic carbon to handle chloramine, which is why the SoftPro Chlorine+ Carbon Whole House Filter uses it, and the SoftPro Fluoride & Chlorine+ SUPER Filter adds bone char when fluoride has to go too.

Why do city homes filter water that's already treated?

City homes filter treated water because the treatment itself leaves something behind: the disinfectant. Utilities add chlorine or chloramine so water stays safe on its way through the pipes, and that disinfectant is still in the water at your tap.

According to the EPA, chloramine is used because it lasts longer in the distribution system and helps utilities lower regulated disinfection byproducts, and more than one in five Americans now drink water treated with it. A whole house water filter removes it at the point of entry, so every tap and shower gets filtered water.

Sources: EPA chloramine questions and answers; EPA Consumer Confidence Report information; CDC Public Health Service fluoride recommendation.

Choosing a Whole House Filter for City Water

Chlorine vs. chloramine: why catalytic carbon matters

Many utilities now disinfect with chloramine instead of chlorine because it lasts longer in the pipes. Standard carbon handles chlorine well but struggles with chloramine. Catalytic carbon is made to break chloramine down, which is why every SoftPro city filter uses it. Check your utility's annual water quality report (the Consumer Confidence Report) to see which one your city uses.

Fluoride: whole house bone char or drinking-water RO?

Carbon alone doesn't remove fluoride. For the whole house, the Fluoride & Chlorine+ Super Filter adds a bone char stage. If you only care about the water you drink and cook with, an under-sink reverse osmosis system is the more targeted option, and many homes use both.

Pairing a filter with a softener

Hard city water needs a softener as well, because a filter doesn't remove hardness. Install the carbon filter first, so chlorine never reaches the softener resin, and the softener after it. See Water Softeners for City Water.

Who this collection isn't for

If you're on a private well, you need a different set of filters (iron, sediment, pH, UV). See Well Water Filtration Systems. If your only concern is drinking water, an under-sink RO system may be all you need.

Which SoftPro whole house water filter fits your water?

The right whole house water filter depends on what you want out of your city water. Match your main concern to the system below. Our guide on why standard carbon filters fail against chloramine explains the media difference.

Installing a softener too? See why carbon goes first on city water.

How do you read your city's water quality report?

Your city's water quality report tells you what's in your water and which disinfectant your utility uses. The EPA requires community water systems to send this Consumer Confidence Report to customers every year by July 1, and it lists the water's source and the regulated contaminants detected. The EPA's guide to understanding your annual water quality report walks through each section.

Not sure which disinfectant your city uses? See how to find out if your city uses chloramine.

How this guide was put together: the product matches follow how SoftPro's team recommends city water systems, and the chloramine, water quality report and fluoride facts come from the EPA and CDC sources linked above. Product removal rates and specs aren't listed here; check each product page, or send us your water quality report.

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