Our water goes from the well to a filter and then a water softener. Between the filter and water softener is a T so non-softened water goes to the kitchen sink (cold, hot is softened) and outdoor water spigots.

non-softened water in the kitchen since softened water tastes different. It's not a super crazy difference but it's there and regular water does taste better (and then filtered again under the sink since we have sulfur smell) in the kitchen. Outdoor is because you'll kill your plants if you water them with softened water.

And as an aside if you bake at all you want to have non-softened water. I've read harder water can actually be better for bread dough's. If the water is too soft (be it naturally or otherwise) you'll have to add stuff to compensate.

I see. Thanks for the response esp wrt the taste! Garden water would have to be non-softened anyway. I am mainly talking about water inside the house.

Talk to the softener and water filter manufacturers. Your plumbing contractor will also have access at the wholesale level to manufacturers who don't sell aftermarket (direct to consumer hard sell).

One market I built in all homes were required to have a softener loop. One client instead invested in a whole house filter and used it for everything except sprinklers including filling the pool.

Most RO systems are put on softened lines, since the actual RO membranes are not tolerant of hardness scale. It will help your filters and membrane last longer.

An RO membrane will reject TDS(total dissolved solids which includes salts), so you wouldn't have to worry about excess sodium in the water.

Does this help?