RecontraBacan wrote:Yeah, there's never any scale build-up on any of the pots, dog bowls, etc

To use this approach to diagnose you really need something like a kettle, something which brings water to the boil and is not cleaned daily. I live in a very hard water area and there is no scale build up on cookware, the electric kettle is another story though.

stefano65 wrote:I can tell you for my repair expertise after 11 years of working on machines
and what my eyes see, scale inside boiler from machine coming from Salem is a factor,

Is it possible these machines have been used elsewhere in their life, or on mineral water because the normal water is to soft?

Worst water I've ever seen was in the San Francisco bay area. Scale build up 2-3 inches thick often in machines I overhauled. never seen anything close to that bad here in Portland OR or out of Salem.
However there is city water and well water. City water is pretty good, well water not so much. Even Portland sometimes switches to well water during times of drought.
A three way filter, sediment, taste (carbon) and limescale inhibitor (phosphate) are common and good insurance. Don't forget to change them when due. In bad water areas, a high quality resin filter is both recyclable and durable.

I am a water quality professional in Salem/Portland area with a thorough knowledge of the Salem Water Supply. You DON'T need a softener on Salem City Water, it is very high quality. (Keizer is another story) Regardless, it still has contaminants and there are two ways of treating. One, is to use a carbon filter to take out the Chlorine/Lead. This is the cheapest way, but you must maintain the filter. The maintenance depends on your water volume usage and size of carbon unit.
Second, is Reverse Osmosis (removes 100% of contaminants) which is what I use to filter my city water (Silverton). My unit (Kinetico K5) then re-mineralizes the water. The end calcium result is 34.2 PPM or 2 gpg. I agree with the other posts that discourage water without mineral. The organics of the coffee bond well with mineral. Salem city water is about 50ppm average, which is perfect. With a re-mineralizing water system you should be at about 100ppm. What works best for you depends on your palette.

For what it is worth I have never had any noticeable scale issues with Salem City water. I would agree with others that perhaps the units serviced from the Salem area showing scale buildup are from folks on well water.