RO or Water Softner?

You're not going to want to water your plants with water that comes out of a water softener. Water softeners run water though a shitload of salt if I'm not mistaken, and will jack up your EC.
Go with an RO filter for plant water.

RO units fast enough to run your house are very expensive, i don't know about running plants with softened water, it does run though salt, but not sure exactly what the product is, or why exactly they use salt, may actually look it up...... Anyhow other options to consider, a carbon backwash filter, or just a general whole house filter, not a clean as RO water, but can provide full pressure to your house.
I believe a carbon backwash filter should be about the same as a water softener, not terribly far off, but both are fairly expensive.
A whole house filter starts around $30 goes up from there.
I believe if you want to use RO water for your grow you should get a small 50-100 gallon per day ro filter, and run it to a res (55 gallon barrel is perfect). Run the rest of the house from a different filter. I have a good site for RO systems if you need a link....
Are you on well water or a city tap?

do NOT water plants with water that have gone through a water softener, unless it is one of the new magical ones that do not use salt. a whole house R/O system can cost upwards of $10k.

If your house gets a water softener, your outside outlets are normally NOT in the softener path. That would be a waste of salt.
Get your water from those lines, or if you install a small RO system, connect to the water before the softener.
The added salt in softened water does not play well with plants, or fish, at all.
What ever, make sure whoever installs a water softener, knows you want a faucet in your basement that gives water prior to the softener.

ok thanks for all the info. i think we'll just run a small filter under the kitchen sink and get our clean water from that. (was more less thinking of stopping cost from brita filters) its water from the city so obviously it is clean, but this is a hella old house with old pipes.

honestly from what ive read you dont need an RO setup unless the ppm of your tap water is like 300 or well water. the ppms are mainly calcium which is something mj tend to be deficient in anyway so its good for em

I have a water softener and a RO system for drinking water. I do not use softened water for drinking or plants because it is bad. My outdoor plants love my well water but I use RO for the indoor plants.
You will not beat the deals for RO at http://www.purewaterclub.com/. They even sell portable RO systems that attach to a hose or faucet.

sparks662 said:

honestly from what ive read you dont need an RO setup unless the ppm of your tap water is like 300 or well water. the ppms are mainly calcium which is something mj tend to be deficient in anyway so its good for em

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Exactly! I have an RO because our towns tap measures 500-600PPM right out of the tap. The water is hard as hell so we also have a water softener so we don't go through a water heater every couple of years.
As stated, if your tap is 300PPM or less, you don't need an RO for plants, but it makes damn fine tasting drinking water.
I use half tap and half RO and get a PPM of around 120-130 prior to adding anything.
We have a 400 gal. hot tub and when we fill it with non-softened water, 24 hours later there is a white powdery layer on the bottom from all the calcium that settles and makes the water cloudy when disturbed. It takes chemicals to remove all that crap. Defiantly not good for valuable plants.