I'm on my second BDB, after sending the first in for service and getting a replacement. By the end, the water tank had acquired a mildewy smell, and though I washed and bleached it often, nevertheless, it persisted.

I do like having water in the reservoir when it comes on, half an hour before I wake up, so it can be hot when I wander into the kitchen. Should I toss out the water every morning after I finish making espresso, and add new water every night before bed? What's the best practice if we don't have an easily plumbable machine?

What's your water source? I top up mine every day or two as needed and only clean it out thoroughly every month or two. There's never any evidence of mould, mildew or smell of any kind. All I ever have is a very light biofilm that washes off easily with soapy water.

Brita pitcher and San Francisco water

Nunas wrote:What's your water source? I top up mine every day or two as needed and only clean it out thoroughly every month or two. There's never any evidence of mould, mildew or smell of any kind. All I ever have is a very light biofilm that washes off easily with soapy water.

Before I plumbed in my BDB, this ^^^ was my experience. For years.

I did use distilled water with a tiny bit of potassium or sodium bicarb added so the machine sensors would work*, OR I used RO water with enough mineral content for same. Just a little bio film every month or two, same a Nunas.

*If the water is too pure, the sensors won't work right and the machine could be severely damaged. This applies to all machines, not just BDB.

-Peter

If you have faith in the SanFran water authority, which seems a reasonable assumption to me, then I'd look at the Brita first. I have very little experience with Brita filters, but with ZeroWater it is very common for the water to go funky after the filter has been used a while.

Any filter that effectively removes chlorine, which is a good idea for coffee making, will also make your water more susceptible to microbe growth. I've seen recommendations ( Espresso Machine Cleaning Why, How, and When, for example) to empty and replace every other day, but that is probably overkill.** As others have said, a reservoir tank cleaning every month should be fine, maybe every week if you want to be especially cautious.

Nunas wrote:I have very little experience with Brita filters, but with ZeroWater it is very common for the water to go funky after the filter has been used a while.

I use both, and use the zerowater to make remineralized water. I've experienced the 'fishy odor' from using a depleted ZeroWater filter, but I think that's due to resins and not microbes. It's also easily avoided by checking your water with the conductivity meter.

P.S.
For Brita pitchers, they have a more recent 'longlast' filter that costs more, lasts longer, and does the job without the WAC decarbonizing resins that tend to drop the alkalinity and acidify your water. If I were in a soft water area using a Brita pitcher to filter out the chlorine for use in an espresso machine, that's the filter I would choose.

** [edit addition] I should probably also mention a statement in a couple La Marzocco manuals: "* If using machine with water reservoir, change the water in the reservoir daily." that a few HB users have commented on (La Marzocco maintenance ) and found excessive.