Hey! I have a job, love kids and am extremely good looking (at least thats what momma says) but I dont help with housework, thats womens work. Now go make Howard a sammitch!
The hole on mine is about 6" from the bottom on the back side. Be very careful about drilling through the liner. It will catch and stretch the hell out of it. Trust me. Drill it from the inside out.
Softening is just a start, you gotta balance the pH and get to the root of what is causing said nastiness if they want to fix it. Point is, almost any water can be fixed, and not necessarily by filtration.
I have a good friend who has been doing well repair for 30 years. He also does water treatment. Its a science figuring out what is wrong with your water and making it right. It honestly takes more than a knowledge of plumbing to know how to properly treat water to remove impurities and correct taste. It all starts with testing samples. If you want his information, let me know. I have seen him fix some nasty water situations.
Just because they have "a full system" doesnt mean it treats their water correctly. Most of the people that sell that shit are as knowledgeable as used car salesmen. And yeah, your city water comes from a well. Blacklick doesnt have a hose siphoning water off the creek that the sewage dept. is pumping its "reclaimed" water into.