We put this reverse osmosis system in our place here in Phoenix. It took that water from pretty rough to perfect. The coffee is great, and the system is pretty much hands off. You will need to change the cartridges once or twice a year, but that is just a cost of doing business. I will probably not put in a water softener because of how the house in plumbed, plus the drinking water is good now.  You aren't going to use this system on the entire house, it recharges very slow. But for drinking, coffee and cooking, you only use maybe a gallon at a time. The 4 gallon water tank is plenty for us.