epics wrote:...I am not a big fan of "plumbing in" because of the usage factor and the fact that I can better determine the quality of water being used.

I'm thinking of taking an interim step and drilling a hole in the machine and my countertop, lengthening the intake hose and running it into a 5 gallon spring water jug under the counter. Like you say, no need for filtering and less flood damage if something fails. Cost is about $6 for a 5-gallon jug. Well worth it.

Almico wrote:,,, lengthening the intake hose and running it into a 5 gallon spring water jug under the counter.

If it works, that may shorten your pump life. See Is a Flojet necessary for vibe pump drawing from bottle?

A bottle at about the same level as the machine should work if you can pull that off. A big bottle under the counter with a flojet or handpump and a line into the machine's reservoir so that you can easily top up the reservoir might be a solution.

I might be willing to trade some pump life for convenience. A $50 pump is cheaper than the other accoutrement necessary to avoid stressing it.

I see no evidence that 1/10 of a bar of negative input pressure is going to harm a pump that normally runs at 9 bars (output).

I was thinking along the same lines, but I'm far from a small pump expert. The worst I figure is that the output pressure would be reduced by the amount of negative input pressure...which might not be a bad thing.

homeburrero wrote:A big bottle under the counter with a flojet or handpump and a line into the machine's reservoir so that you can easily top up the reservoir might be a solution.

Quit Filling That Water Tank! documents that approach.