My house uses city water. For the most part it is clean and tastes fine, but I can see mineral build up in toilets and elsewhere.
I started to research whole house systems with 1-6 types of filters. I also looked at systems with 1-3 filters you could place at a specific sink/tap.
My thought was that for my kitchen sink water, from which we drink, I would want the most filtering, but for bathrooms/appliances I might need less intensive/types of filters.
Therefore, I thought maybe there was a good strategy to say at the pipe from the city water I install these types of filters then at the kitchen sink I also install some more specific or additional filters. My goals would be better tasting water for drinking (but not necessarily tooth brushing) and to prolong life of washing machine, water heater, etc. by reducing metals, etc. I also figured that over time, it would save money to use fewer types of filters for the whole house and then only use more hardcore/specific types of filters where we actually drink.
Is this something that makes sense? It is better to just do a big multi stage system at the water intake? If it does make sense (looking at 20 year payback period) then how should I setup this system and what types of filters where? Not looking for a hardcore reverse osmosis system, but willing to spend around $500-750 initial cost (not including labor if I need to hire a plumber/installer for the main system) with less than $50-100 a year in ongoing costs.