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Water hardness advice

1K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  MediumRoastSteam 
#1 ·
hello there,

im after some advice on my tap water. according the the water company the hardness is 65 Cal mg/l. they consider this moderate hardness. i've been using bottled water in my espresso machines for years but this seems fairly unsustainable and other half always complains.

So wondering if i need to filter this water or would consider more eco friendly alternative to bottled water.

Does distilling your own water at home reduce hardness? any thoughts from people with more knowledge on this subject much appreciated
 
#11 ·
The cheapest option is likely to be a simple RO unit. I probably use more water than some at ~2L a day for coffee, most of it drunk. It doesn't need much of an RO unit to meet that. Pumped needed - wouldn't have thought so.

My tap water is ~100 ppm so makes more sense to own a machine that descales easily which wastes ~1L of water every now and again. Sage might have the indication to do it correct but setting for harder would still mean not very often.

I tried to get some idea what the new Sage filter could do. Looks like up to 350ppm ok for 40L or 3 months but descaling still needed. They effectively say look for something else at 450ppm

This range seems to be sold for use with espresso machines also everpure. Should be data some where. The company did produce one themselves but seem to have dropped it.

https://www.eastmidlandswater.com/3m-aqua-pure-cuno-cs51-water-filter-cartridge/2667

Then there is this aspect that I have never managed to bottom out and left me wondering about pressure cooker, Quote from the web

Since boiling removes the water's calcium content, the result is softer water. Boiling is a quick and cheap way to fix hard water for consumption purposes. However, it only addresses temporary hardness and not permanent hardness. The latter contains dissolved calcium sulfate that boiling will not remove.

Might be worth trying if some one has rather hard water. Also this one - Forum bug, wont let me covert to italics as it did above.

Calcium or magnesium bicarbonate dissolved in the water is known as temporary hardness since when the water is boiled it precipitates as calcium carbonate or magnesium in the pan or kettle.

Calcium or magnesium sulphate in the water is unaffected by boiling.

Going back to ~70's some rather wealthy individuals ran espresso machines on distilled water. Mention on here some time ago and seems have gained some interest.

;) I came across this too

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjl0ImP3rrwAhWLecAKHc7pBXY4ChAWMAF6BAgCEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F2073-4441%2F10%2F1%2F54%2Fpdf&usg=AOvVaw3Fym-1S8UTaLMym44Kvvpt
 
#14 ·
@Chriss29 - that's ok!

The distiller I bought second hand. It's nothing special. Ebay has loads of them. Just buy something where the water path is stainless steel and doesn't touch plastic.

The Sodium Bicarbonate is just box standard from the supermarket. Also called Baking Soda (NOT POWDER!) or Bicarbonate Soda.

The 80mg/100mg is something which has been worked out to be the roughly correct amount to be a buffer and avoid corrosion of the boilers. I've consulted my chemistry books from high school, created a spreadsheet with all sorts of atomic mass, concentrations, molar mass etc and had infinite talks with @Rob1 and @DavecUKabout this. So it must be right. 🤣

🙂
 
#15 ·
@MediumRoastSteam Thanks so much for the quick reply! Well regards the recipe, I certainly won't argue with that amount of experience!

I presume then you don't/won't descale your machine? Also, once you've distilled a batch, can you keep any left over water in the fridge ready mixed for when you need it?Thanks again!
 
#16 ·
I presume then you don't/won't descale your machine? Also, once you've distilled a batch, can you keep any left over water in the fridge ready mixed for when you need it?Thanks again!
That's exactly what I do. I tend to use 3.5L over 10 days or so. I don't keep in the fridge either. I distil the water straight into glass bottles and keep them sealed in a dark/cool place. And that's it. I've been doing this for a year and I'm still alive! 🙂
 
#17 ·
You don't need to descale if you're using distilled water remineralised with bicarbonates so long as there's nothing contributing to hardness (Magnesium or Calcium). You should still flush a service boiler out every now and again. I keep distilled water in glass bottles, not in the fridge as there's no need.
 
#20 ·
Yes. Simple single boilers dual use machines (dbdu) like the Gaggia Classic/Rancilio sivlias etc is not so bad because of how they are constructed/architected. But for prosumer machines prevention is far better than remedy.

On more fancy machines, even SBDU machines, the descale corrosion can damage the chrome of the group or strip the chrome inside the group, amongst other parts such as temperature sensors. LImescale itself can block paths, flow restrictors, jets, sensors, etc...

So, the rule of thumb is: Avoid descaling if you can. Prevention is better than remedy.
 
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