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Approved research · index eligible

Rheem PREFERRED Compact 18,000-Grain Water Softener

PREFERRED Compact · ion-exchange softening (resin bed, salt brine regeneration)

Manufacturer number
RHS18
Product category
Water softeners
Evidence profile
7/7 complete
Pricing state
Quote required
Sales model
Retail / big-box (The Home Depot)
Last verified
2026-09-16

Water System Guide is an independent research publisher, not a manufacturer, dealer, installer, utility, or laboratory.

What is verified

  • Exact identity: RHS18, manufacturer product number RHS18
  • ion-exchange softening (resin bed, salt brine regeneration)
  • RHS18 holds an active NSF/ANSI 44 DWTU listing under Water Channel Partners with verified hardness-reduction (HR) and California efficiency-rated (ER) claim columns, plus NSF/ANSI 372 and lead-content conformity markers on the row; no WQA Gold Seal listing was found.
  • 1 year parts and labor; 3 years electronics; 10 years tanks; extendable to 5 years with regular use of Rheem water softener cleaner

Cost and quote state

Quote required

Archived price evidence: No current price is asserted for RHS18. The live Home Depot product page returns HTTP 403 (edge block) and the archived capture could not be re-read on 16 September 2026, so the price is not currently directly observable and is quote/verify-required. Historical, non-current evidence: an archived Home Depot PDP observed 2025-07-07 recorded a USD 374.00 list display and a card-offer price of USD 324.00 at that date. That archived observation is preserved as history only and must not be read as a current price. Equipment pricing only; no installed total, discount or service price is asserted.

No installed total, discount, or numeric price is asserted without frozen evidence.

Serviceability and local boundary

Regional exact-model evidence

Exact-model serviceability has been verified at Level 3 through manufacturer support channels (Rheem Water Treatment / Water Channel Partners: 1-800-754-7027, parts shipped direct, registration/cleaner program, Zendesk help center); Houston exact-model serviceability has not yet been verified. No Houston installer claim is made.

Houston relevance is limited to address- and PWS-scoped water-quality evaluation (2025 City of Houston Water Quality Report hardness data). It is not a household need, fit, sizing, contaminant-specific suitability, availability, serviceability, or provider-match conclusion.

Current stock is not established by this research snapshot. Confirm availability directly with the seller. The source note below is historical; its verification expiry does not refresh automatically.

Availability evidence note: Level 4 current exact-model availability is not verified. The only availability evidence is a historical archived Home Depot PDP observation (Wayback 2025-04-03 to 2025-07-07) that is no longer current; the live Home Depot PDP returns HTTP 403 and the archive could not be re-read on 2026-09-16, so current stock, orderability, delivery timing, installation scheduling and Houston service are not verified and are quote/verify-required. This observation is not a guarantee of current availability.

Compare approved models

Compare normalized fields using only data frozen in approved snapshots.

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Related models and brand hub

This page documents the exact model only. The parent brand record carries the licence, warranty and certification-structure context that no single model page can hold.

Revision and provenance

Approved revision
9cbfcecfaacd0e60959b9e4b1fc743a420a496743fd96682fb0b437443270604
Snapshot
52602c4c9dc7974378ef394ab5b7ac031d8c7bd921638aa1f09ca5ec7ef08fa7
Independent QA
0a3b5fb8541e1290581dad06da5f7a29ead85f510008c2b564a36aa84c062eef

Evidence sources