This article outlines the key principles and assumptions that form the basis of the filtration consolidation model for water-saturated clay soils described by K.Terzaghi in 1925 for calculating the settlement of structures. One of the main assumptions that requires revision is the notion that the pore water in clay soils has properties identical to those of bulk water. In the modern context, pore water should be considered in terms of its structuredness under the influence of the active centers of solid particles, ions, and other factors. The results of experimental studies on the effect of active centers of the solid surface, primarily clay particles, on the change in water structure via nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometers of various generations are presented. The patterns of changes in the structure of pore water in water-saturated clay soils of different granulometric and mineral compositions in the range of changes in their conditional physical state by moisture are shown. The structuredness of pore water in soils contributes to its inertness to the perception of external pressure and to the need to revise the concepts of filtration consolidation in favour of the rheological model for predicting the development of settlements as the main criterion for their stability.