Distilled versus R.O.

[utah]

My water here is *VERY* hard and, since I'm *slowly* building a greenhouse, I'm looking at finding a better source for my water. I've been using the hard water this summer but the babies need something better.

I've looked at the R.O. systems and, although good, I don't like the idea of "wasting" so much water in the process (only getting about 1 gallon of "good" water while having to "dump" about 4 gallons of "bad" water). I'm in a desert so I'm not so thrilled about wasting so much water - even if I use it for other purposes. Besides, during the very cold winters here there isn't really anywhere to "use" the "bad" water.

Has anyone used a distiller at home? The ones I've seen only produce a small amount of water after a lot of time and energy and I can't afford an expensive, large unit.

Anyone with experience, sources, or good ideas?