Espresso Cart - Goodbye Plumbed In - Page 2

[bgn]

Bumping an old thread. This intrigues me, but I know nothing about reverse osmosis. Currently, I'm using a flojet on a 5 gallon bottle of spring water from the store. My water is hard, so to use my tap water would require filtering. My gear is also on a cart. But my flojet is five years old and seems ready to fail. It's also so loud I can't fill the boiler if anyone is sleeping the house. I'd like to switch to filtering my own tap water instead of hauling it in from the store and get a quiet pump.
Is there another link with instructions?
Thanks,
Barry.

[spressomon]

FWIW, I had been using distilled water with Dr. Pavlis' water recipe but after installing an RO system I just use it for the same water recipe (instead of hauling 5-gallon carboys to/from the self serve distilled water dispensary. If there's a difference, I can't taste it.

FWIW 2, I'm using an Aquatec pump, Shurflo SS 2-gallon accumulator, pressure regulator, etc.).

[Firedancer]

Here is what the set up looks like. Note the wide mouth on the tank makes filling easy. Note that the waste tank has a handle (not shown) which makes it easy to carry out to the garden and dump. Also not shown is the pressure gauge.

Hope this helps.

image

I'll definitely be following this thread. I've been consider an Aquatec or Shurflo for my drive pump, including one for a pitcher rinser.

[CarefreeBuzzBuzz (original poster)]

I updated the first post with the final image and noted my findings after 16 months. Really an excellent system.

[CarefreeBuzzBuzz (original poster)]

For those that need to measure the flow from an RO system this may work.

https://hydrobuilder.com/hydroponics/wa ... meter.html

[drH]

After following this awhile, I'm curious why no one seems to use the all-in-one systems offered by companies like 3M:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/3m-wat ... gKsZ_D_BwE

Smaller versions like this are available too, with scale inhibitors:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/3m-wat ... gIrQ_D_BwE


Are these just not tunable enough?

[CarefreeBuzzBuzz (original poster)]

After following this awhile, I'm curious why no one seems to use the all-in-one systems offered by companies like 3M..........Are these just not tunable enough?

Dustin, in my case I'll go with your word tunable, and cost and most of all worry free.

With a system like the ones you posted, you might tune it in but its not worry free because you don't know how the cartridges are performing as they age. Cost wise I am guessing I spend within an "I don't care" amount on distilled water just like I would on cartridges. In my case it has to RO since we have very high chlorides (not chlorine) in AZ, and that means more cartridges including remineralization which will vary depending upon time on the membrane.

What I really want to emphasize for people is my system takes very little time to manage.

Once a year make stock water solution -10-15 min
Once a year clean it -30-45 min

Every 10-12 weeks (depending on how often the espresso demanding relatives come over ), make water - 5-10 min. The time between tank refils could be made a longer interval with a larger tank. The shipping on tanks above the size I purchased tends to be really high.

What I get for this is COMPLETE confidence in my water at a reasonable cost and time.

Hope this helps understand why I love this system so much. It has been flawless for the 20 months I have had it and I know 4-5 others using similar.

[drH]

After reading more I'm starting to understand the merit of your process. The RO with remineralization seems to be finicky for some people.
I wonder if it could be worth investing in a small water distiller..using that and a pre-made mix in a setup like you describe might be the most hassle free process.

[MNate]

The other worry free part of his method is not worrying about water leaks like I did when I had filters hooked up under my sink. I'm quite glad my espresso machine is no longer plumbed in- never thought I'd say that.

[homeburrero]

After following this awhile, I'm curious why no one seems to use the all-in-one systems offered by companies like 3M:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/3m-wat ... gKsZ_D_BwE


Smaller versions like this are available too, with scale inhibitors:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/3m-wat ... gIrQ_D_BwE


Are these just not tunable enough?

That first one is high capacity and maybe a little expensive. It's good where your water quality is good enough to allow blending. What you get from blending will depend on the incoming water, so the ratio of hardness, alkalinity, chloride, and TDS after blending would be the same as your tap water. And that system is not quite turnkey - it still needs an accumulator tank.

The second one is not RO (would not reduce chloride), and also doesn't look ideal to me for hard water in espresso equipment. 3M does make single cartridges that combine charcoal with conventional softening that is designed for that purpose - for example the ESP-124 series.