Me again. Finally, we're back in working order. The local service guy and I both learned a few lessons. He learned not to assume that the valve that failed is the cold one, when the customer can't shut off hot or cold supply independently. I learned not to assume he would assume either or both and so order both parts. We both thought about that whole situation a few times since Saturday and both of us realized we should have thought further about where else we could turn off cold or hot supply separately - just the fitting at the wall by the washer, or could we have tracked back further? I'd forgotten that I'd insisted the plumber put in additional shut-offs earlier in the line, in case we ever needed to shut these lines down, without impacting the rest of the household! I also learned that the people at Bosch (where you end up when you schedule warranty service through the 888-77LOWES number) vary wildly in their knowledge of how to proceed. The first one I spoke to misunderstood me back on the weekend I initially posted. He thought I said I was OUT OF WARRANTY so he sent me direct to the local authorized service guys (Scott's Appliance Installation and Repair). Scott and I muddled through trying to get the part ordered over a couple days, and then trying to get it expedited. Once we got through that, Scott came on Saturday (a week after this all began) only to discover in the meantime, that the bad one was the hot, not the cold. He scoured the New England area this morning, found a source, worked out whatever deal he needed to get it in hand today and replaced hot and cold fill valves this evening. Although I'd have been happier if he'd done a more thorough job of troubleshooting me in the first place, I truly like this independent authorized service provider. He works alone - so I'll never see some clueless idiot with an attitude. I like that he completely owned up to making a mistake in troubleshooting and that he made it right, and did a late appointment today, rather than making me stay home from work tomorrow. (On his first visit, when we realized we couldn't make the Bosch functional that day, he fixed a couple dopey* things wrong with my old machine for free, to make sure I could do a couple loads on Sunday, too.) He also helped me put the Kellett ShakeAway Pads I ordered a while back under the machine, even though his experience with various pads said I'd be unhappy because it might cut the sound but the machine would be jumping around more visibly. When we tested them, he said, "I have to admit, I'm impressed!" I'm happy... and the Bosch is humming away upstairs, and my whole house AIN'T shakin! (*hubby put new hoses on the old machine on Friday and ran a load or two. I found them dripping on the basement floor and he'd hooked them up backwards, hot for cold. Good thing I didn't run a load of undies in "cold" or my unmentionables would have also been my invisibles!)

Options 1&2 are total scams. TAC does nothing and the carbon is designed to remove chlorine and organics. While it is true it will improve the quality of the water for whole house use it must be replaced after it loads up, several years most likely. Option 3 will soften the water and I would suggest a carbon tank before the softener to remove the chlorine and extend the life of softener resin. The carbon tank will need to be rebed depending on chlorine levels and usage. RJH2O

I'm in the same boat as you, trying to figure out which water filtration (whole house) to use and can't find experts who I trust. This sees to be kind of new territory and also ripe for scam artists (which you probably already know). I think I'm going with ewswater.com but only thinking about it now. Seems like their advertising/hype is less than aquasana which is the other contender for my dollars - but if that sounds like I'm not being technical enough in my evaluation, you are right. We don't need water softener but I do want to filter the chloramines. Keep us posted what you find out. Sorry I can't help but I understand your dilemma very well.

1. If you have high Total Dissolved Solids and sediment, then you should be filtering AHEAD of the water softener. The cleaner the water coming into the softener, the less trouble you'll have with nuisance failures like plugged injectors. 2. If your water is really crappy, eg. you can see the dissolved solids, you really should look at a backwashing filter. The benefits are no real reduction in pressure and gpm flow and because the filter (about the size of a softener) automatically backwashers, there are no cartidges to replace, which you will be doing often. 3. You make reference to a $500 fleck. Do you know if it has enough capacity based on hardness vs usage vs # of people in the house? Is it demand based or timer based regeneration? If buying direct are you prepared to ship the thing to the mfg and duke it out with them if it fails? A good rule of thumb when dealing with installed anything to do with your house is take the cost of the goods and double it at minimum. The company installing has to make a profit, deal with warranty, cover overhead......The company in the link I included deals with softeners, filters, everything and the pricing will give you an idea of what decent equipment on it's own is worth. But it's worth nothing to you if it's not installed competently. 4. At 2k installed for a decent softener with warranty through the installer -- it's their baby if something goes wrong, you're not getting robbed. Can you shop it around with smaller independent plumbing contractors? Sure but make sure you can get references and feel comfortable doing business with whomever you choose, that may be worth a few hundred. 5. If you are going to go through the trouble of filtering and softening your well water, you will be a couple of hundred dollars away from not having to rely on bottled water. I mentioned Reverse Osmosis for drinking, it is cheaper in the long run vs paying for bottled and it tastes neutral. Note that the only contaminant that RO can't deal with is hydrogen sulphide (you know it if you have it, your water smells like rotten eggs). Removing hydrogen sulphide is another 2k or so. 6. Before taking the plunge with anyone, you may want to have your water tested thoroughly by an independent lab to see what contaminants are present and see what they recommend for treatment based on your intended usage. Their services aren't free. The cost here for a thorough analysis is about $80. Iron, Hardness, Sediment, TDS is a good starting point if you're not drinking it. 7. Research as much as you can, google google and more google. We moved to the country back in april and had to deal with all of this, minus sediment in the water (I'm lucky, my well starts at 130' and goes down another 30' in fractured bedrock). Being uninformed about rotten egg smell, we almost pulled the trigger on 2k worth of oxidizing and filtering equipment. Turns out that 2/3 of a gallon of chlorox killed the harmless bacteria that was the cause of the smell. -But- The water conditioning pros won't tell you that because they want to sell equipment. Hope my late night rambling helps. Here is a link that might be useful: backwashing filter