Hi guys, long time reader, first time poster, etc...

I just moved in to a new house, and have the ability to plumb in my Reneka Viva 1. The drain is pretty straightforward, but I have questions about the supply line.

First question: It seems our city water is quite soft. The city report and prior experience point to not needing a softener. I was thinking about a single cartridge filter like those used for refrigerator supply lines. This seems easy enough to change if I want to upgrade it. Enough?

Second question: The Reneka Viva has a rotary pump, which auto-fills the boiler and pressurizes the brewhead path. I assume, because you can set the pump pressure, that this pump is regulated-- that is, the output pressure is (largely) independent of supply pressure. Is this true? And if so, do I need a regulator or pressure reducer on the supply line?

Hi
If you have already soft water it isn't necessarily a good idea to soften it further "just in case" as you can drop the PH a bit too much. A straightforward carbon type filter is probably all you need. Reneka recommended the Brita Aquavend 06-B to me (and supplied it as part of the machine package).

Some rotary pumps are designed with what is called a "balanced by-pass", which has the objective of maintaining a fixed output pressure irrespective of variations in the input pressure. There has been debate in forums as to how well they manage to do this though. Other pumps are not designed to do this anyway, and merely add a fixed amount of pressure to whatever is incoming. Mine is that type. It is a Reneka machine, but not the same model as yours. I don't know what type of pump would be fitted to yours, but Reneka are very helpful if you get in touch and ask them.

Personally, I'd always fit a good quality brass pressure regulator upstream of the machine in the supply line. The Watts range available in the US is different from the European one I have (pipe dimensions are different here) but they are quality products.

Hope you like the machine. Reneka make quality products, despite being dismissed by at least one forum poster just as "French" ;o)

I recommend you do some research and look, for example, at this thread posted only a few days ago.

Why Reduce Inlet Water Pressure?

I've had the Reneka for a few years now, but I'm just now able to plumb it.

I guess it can't hurt to get a regulator at any rate. That other thread has been helpful in getting started, but the whole debate really depends on if you have a regulated pump of some sort or not-- and I guess that's really my question.

Perhaps I'll hook it all up, and then watch the brewhead pressure while asking my wife to flush the toilet.

Just following up with replies I've gotten from Reneka and Boyds, who both say that any inlet pressure between 30psi and 80psi will be fine, and that the output pressure will be relatively unaffected by changes in line pressure. I'm going to pick up a home pressure gauge at Home Depot and just check it before doing anything else.

Both said that a regulator could be added if shifts in the pump's output pressure were observed during operation.

I mention all this because it seems the opinion here on HB trends strongly to the need for regulation on the inlet side, even on pumps with balanced bypass.