My parents have reverse osmosis. The water isn't very cold, and it is a sloooooow tap. We have a faucet-mounted Brita filter, and it works just fine for us. It was cheap, too.

Plenty of people swear by Big Berkey filters
http://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com/

With the reverse osmosis filters (because you said your family drinks a lot of water) you might want to consider the fact that they "waste" a good deal of water (varies by the brand/model, usually at least 3 gallons for every 1 gallon of filtered water), it's something I was surprised to learn about.

I don't think you need to go to either extreme - brita filters are small and don't filter as well as an RO system. Brita filters have good pressure at the cost of low filtration. The $800 price tag on the other end of the spectrum is not necessary... RO systems filter the smaller particulates and removes chlorine & other chemicals found in municipal tap water. We have used this RO for about 8 years and have the same model in 4 of our rental units and the tenants love them! My husband did a lot of research on these and found these to be the best value for what you get! Also, if you want to see for yourself, get a water test kit and compare RO, tap & brita and see what you find. Good luck!

http://www.waterfiltersonline.com/detail.asp?product_id=5_Stage_RO

PS- In our research, we found a few other things...
1. RO it is not distilled water (it still contains the good minerals that you want).
2. RO is more than just a filter, it is a smaller version of the same process that water bottling companies use.

We love our ceramic water filter crock. We've had it for 10 years and replace the $50 filter once a year. It was the best thing we ever bought, and when we have company they always want one of their own. It also keeps the water nice and chilly (but not too cold) and the taste is great. We gave one to my sister and her husband for their wedding, and a year later he told me it's the best wedding gift they got (and he never gushes over anything!).

We got ours from this company: http://www.epicwater.com/ When you call you deal with an actual person who is very helpful and know the stock etc. Their shipping is great too. When my sister's arrived cracked they shipped another right away. I'm not a spokesperson for the company but I can't recommend them enough!

We have an undersink (with dedicated faucet) one from Sears. Warning: when you replace the filters (supposed to do it every 6 months, but we do it every year because there are only two of us), inevitably some part will break. Apparently this happens a lot with this type of filter - in researching the problem, we found a lot of complaints about it.

That said, we love the undersink, especially with its own faucet. The water is always cold and there aren't any flow issues (because it's not reverse osmosis). Hopefully we'll find another undersink model that won't break on us.

We also have an undersink model with it's own faucet (it goes in the hole where the pull-out spray would have been). Ours is made by Culigan and has 2 filter cartridges. We absolutely love it. I think the system was about $130, and replacement cartridges are about $30-40 for both. We've had it in use for 5 years now. Unlike kls987, we haven't had any problems with parts breaking. It was pretty easy to install, my husband did it himself with no special tools (however, he's an engineer and is good with these things).

At my last apartment I couldn't drink the well water, so I exclusively used bottled. When we moved here, I couldn't stand the city water so that's why we got this Culigan system. It gives us great tasting water, and hey, no more wasted plastic bottles! I highly recommend looking into a system like this.

RO, OTOH, I have heard wastes a lot of water too - something like 2-4 gallons of water used to make 1 gallon of RO. Be sure to do some research into that if you decide to go that route.

geekgirl- thank you for the link I am interested in getting one. Which did you get?

Looks like Culligan no longer does the undercabinet carbon filtration, but GE does: http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=GNSV70FBL

Don't forget about the shower too...people don't realize the toxic effects of chlorine and when there is steam, it disperses quickly and this actually effects your nuro system. There are a lot of pharmaceuticals in the water that are not filtered out by the city, so it's up to you. Fluoride is also a toxic halogen (surprising to many, it also does nothing for your teeth, which is an old myth) that, along with chlorine, competes with iodine, which a lot of people are dangerously low in. This causes a lot of thyroid problems. SO, I would suggest go for the whole house filter that filters out chlorine, and fluoride to the lowest amounts. It's the best thing for your health. Don't forget, you get what you pay for...brita doesn't cut it.

Imrinc, how come the American Dental Association endorses fluoridation then?

Thanks, everyone - and thanks AT for posting my question. These are great suggestions!

I have no idea how domestic reverse osmosis filters work, but I worked at a very small pastry shop for a year and a half that had a reverse osmosis filter and a mineral filter (to add mineral taste) and it was the best damn water I've ever had come out of a tap.

Just sayin'. We use a Brita at home and it's a pain in the bum. I miss my Pur pitcher, which had better-tasting water and a pitcher that held more and didn't leak like the Brita does. It also filtered faster.

I'm gonna have to check out the water crock. It sounds so cool!

philippat, here is some info about fluoride in water:
American Dental association recommends fluoride levels in drinking water between 0.7 and 1.2 mg/L to help against tooth decay. However, a lot depends on the source of drinking water. Rivers and lakes generally contain fluoride levels less than 0.5 mg/L, but groundwater, particularly in volcanic or mountainous areas, can contain as much as 50 mg/L. Excess fluoride can cause dental or even skeletal fluorosis, which can lead to severe bone degeneration. World Health Organization recommends a maximum fluoride value of 1.5 mg/L for minimal fluorosis risk. Fortunately for us, skeletal fluorosis has extremely low incidence in the US. However, people who use groundwater as drinking water should still be cautious about their fluoride levels, in addition to all the heavy ions.

I would recommend the faucet mount. My parents have always had one and it works well with no refilling. Just don't run hot water through it!

Behind the scenes many dentists acknowledge this situation but the ADA maintains such a stranglehold on the profession that it is dangerous for them to become openly critical of the practice of fluoridation. Even though the ADA is an association, not a governmental agency, it has a great deal of influence on dental matters through its lobbyists in Washington, DC and the almost universal and dominant presence of its members on State Dental Boards. These Boards have the power to remove a license from a practicing dentist in the state, and thus can keep dentists in line on controversial issues like fluoridation.

We hope that this website will encourage more dentists to break ranks with the ADA and rescue this profession from its shortsighted promotion of this dangerous, unethical and unnecessary practice.

THIS WEBSITE CONTAINS EVIDENCE THAT ...

Fluoridation is not about "children's teeth". Rather, it is about industry ridding itself of crude hazardous waste products, silicofluorides, for a profit. Silicofluorides are 85 times more toxic than naturally-occurring calcium fluoride.
Fluoride is more toxic than lead and like lead in minute doses, accumulates in and can be damaging to brain/mind development of children, producing abnormal behavior in animals and reducing IQ in humans, especially in conjunction with deficiencies of key nutrients such as calcium, iodine and vitamins. It can also contribute to many disease processes. Because it is almost as toxic as arsenic, fluoride's ability to play havoc in the human body should surprise no one.

Behind the scenes many dentists acknowledge this situation but the ADA maintains such a stranglehold on the profession that it is dangerous for them to become openly critical of the practice of fluoridation. Even though the ADA is an association, not a governmental agency, it has a great deal of influence on dental matters through its lobbyists in Washington, DC and the almost universal and dominant presence of its members on State Dental Boards. These Boards have the power to remove a license from a practicing dentist in the state, and thus can keep dentists in line on controversial issues like fluoridation.

We hope that this website will encourage more dentists to break ranks with the ADA and rescue this profession from its shortsighted promotion of this dangerous, unethical and unnecessary practice.

THIS WEBSITE CONTAINS EVIDENCE THAT ...

Fluoridation is not about "children's teeth". Rather, it is about industry ridding itself of crude hazardous waste products, silicofluorides, for a profit. Silicofluorides are 85 times more toxic than naturally-occurring calcium fluoride.
Fluoride is more toxic than lead and like lead in minute doses, accumulates in and can be damaging to brain/mind development of children, producing abnormal behavior in animals and reducing IQ in humans, especially in conjunction with deficiencies of key nutrients such as calcium, iodine and vitamins. It can also contribute to many disease processes. Because it is almost as toxic as arsenic, fluoride's ability to play havoc in the human body should surprise no one.

Behind the scenes many dentists acknowledge this situation but the ADA maintains such a stranglehold on the profession that it is dangerous for them to become openly critical of the practice of fluoridation. Even though the ADA is an association, not a governmental agency, it has a great deal of influence on dental matters through its lobbyists in Washington, DC and the almost universal and dominant presence of its members on State Dental Boards. These Boards have the power to remove a license from a practicing dentist in the state, and thus can keep dentists in line on controversial issues like fluoridation.

We hope that this website will encourage more dentists to break ranks with the ADA and rescue this profession from its shortsighted promotion of this dangerous, unethical and unnecessary practice.

THIS WEBSITE CONTAINS EVIDENCE THAT ...

Fluoridation is not about "children's teeth". Rather, it is about industry ridding itself of crude hazardous waste products, silicofluorides, for a profit. Silicofluorides are 85 times more toxic than naturally-occurring calcium fluoride.
Fluoride is more toxic than lead and like lead in minute doses, accumulates in and can be damaging to brain/mind development of children, producing abnormal behavior in animals and reducing IQ in humans, especially in conjunction with deficiencies of key nutrients such as calcium, iodine and vitamins. It can also contribute to many disease processes. Because it is almost as toxic as arsenic, fluoride's ability to play havoc in the human body should surprise no one.

Read more at flouridedebatedotcom

Just two days ago I installed a Whirlpool undersink water filter. It cost me $35 at Lowes and took about 20 minutes to install. The water quality here in Denver is excellent but I wanted to be able to filter out the chlorine for brewing my beer. I had used the Brita filter pitcher but the cost is huge compared to the Whirlpool. A replacement filter for the Brita is $7 and lasts about a month while the Whirlpool costs $12 and lasts 6 months while enabling you to run filtered water direct from the tap.

I decided to get the Whirlpool over other "user friendly" units because it's more robust and again the filters are cheaper. I used similar units to filter the water in my photographic darkroom and know that these kind of filters can last for years of hard use.

Unless you have abysmal water quality with bacteria and the like you don't need a reverse osmosis unit. A good filter will do wonders. BTW I could taste the difference with my new filter immediately.

While it's not an on-demand system, the Zero water filter/pitcher is by far the best (and economical) water filter. It filters out pharmaceuticals, bacteria and heavy metals. I keep a glass on the counter and refill the pitcher as I use it, so that it's always full. I highly recommend it.

Erin, I would go for a Berkey water filter. It depends on if you want to stay in your house a really long time--if so--installing a system would be a good idea. But if it were me, I would do a Berkey water filter.

I have heard that berkey water filters are really top-of-the-line. Does your website have further recommendations besides these two types? Thanks for your help!