For drinking, I just use bottled water and or run the water through a pur filter in the refrig.

If you’re talking about getting water softener for showers and such…We considered that. But I’ve been told water softener does interesting things to one’s plumbing and water heaters…So I opted to just get use the harder water.

I think in water purifiers, part of the comparison is
1) how much water in does it take to get water out.
(efficiency of water purifiers).
2) Also, consider parts/replacement costs.

You probably don’t need to worry about removing bacteria/etc from san diego tap though.