Here is the website for the national organization responsible for determining and setting the standards for residential ( and some commercial) water treatment equipment.

waterfilterwarehouse.com is a good source for equipment featuring Fleck brand softener valves. Fleck valves are reliable, economical, use little salt, and are VERY EASY to rebuild - takes about 30 minutes.

Be aware, any softener that contains carbon media (as well as the cation exchange softening resin) for chlorine and other taste and odor correction will REQUIRE that the carbon media be replaced periodically, otherwise the carbon will break down and flow into your plumbing fixtures, etc.

Changing carbon media consists of shutting off water, removing valve from softener, and vacuuming out the carbon media using a wet vac with a 3/4" tube attached. Carbon media lies on the top of the media bed and is usually about 8 inches in depth.

I would recommend forgoing this arrangement, favoring an inline 12"x4" carbon block for chlorine and odor correction. Much simpler to unscrew a big blue filter housing to replace the carbon block.

Hope this helps.

Hi Stephanie,

I understand why you would be confused. It's intentionally confusing.

So the right place to start is understanding what is in your water that you are needing to treat or remove.

The best answer is to have the water tested by a company that isn't trying to sell you water treatment. An easier route is to see if you can get a idea of what's in your municipal water by looking at the annual water quality report (google it for your water provider and include the link). You may be able to generally understand what's in your water and then buy a test kit to give you more precise info that you will need.

Once you know what's in your water it becomes easier to determine what needs to be done to treat it.

Reply back with a link to your water quality report.

Jake is correct. Get a pro involved so you will know your local option. I would not recommend the place "the fed up" linked. They exclusively use mixed media beds, which is a terrible idea. If you need a whole house carbon filter, which is unlikely, it should always be a separate unit, installed upstream from your softener. In any case, start with a water test or your water report and go from there.

Precisely why I advised to use the carbon block filter.

Mixed media beds can often become problematic.