water softner or water filter system?

[Faith]

We only have so much money, so I need to know what would be better. We just moved to a rural area with a well and have "hard" water that has a slight odor and leave rust stains and film.

That sounds so gross, doesn't it?! We drink filtered water at least!

Any advice?

[christiab]

They do different things. The softener replaces minerals in your water w/ salt or potassium. This makes your clothes cleaner w/ less soap etc, but your water will taste salty IMO. That means you still need a filter to remove the salt and other impurites before you drink it.

We have a softener and a reverse osmosis filter. Also keep in mind that you can;t use softened water for plants. (salt kills plants) Make sure you keep at least one outside hose bib w. hard water for plants.

[camprunner]

We are having the same trouble. I think we've decided to see how much difference a whole house filter makes first and then decide on the water softener. The filter is much cheaper