Softened water (with salt) is deadly for babies and not good for
people with high blood pressure. When my eldest was born, I moved our
softener and redid some of the plumbing. I ran a 2nd line to the
kitchen, added a good filter and installed a drinking fawcet at the
kitchen sink. We use this un-softened water for any water we drink. I
also moved the pipe connections for the outside taps to draw water
before the softener. The water for most inside taps and fixtures gets
softened water.
This has worked well for us and reduced the amount of salt the
softener uses.
Brad in Aurora, Ontario, Canada.