Hi Community,

It has been a year since I installed the BWT Bestmax Premium for my Lelit Bianca, original thread: (Los Angeles hard water, filtration recommendation.) and here is an update/ looking for advice on RO system.

Summary: Hard LA tap water with chlorides at 50-60 ppm. Bestmax premium not the top choice but the one I had at the moment since I didn't want to install an RO system in my apartment. Water coming out was acidic pH 6.0-6.5, not ideal for those chlorides; with KH 65ppm and GH 250 ppm.

Update: after 1 year under these conditions I have looked inside the boiler (endoscope) and group head (disassembly) and can report very light scale (thin transparent film) on steam boiler with a thicker (still thin) crust at the water line (expected). Very light scale on mushroom valves and small bits in the top tube coming from the brew boiler.

There was some some greenish corrosion on the mushroom valve and when I went to descale it in dezcal, the chrome plating flaked off for most of it. I know this is not a big deal but could be a side effect of the acidic water.

After seeing these results, the BTW did its job on the sale side but I am not happy with the overall performance, therefore I will look to change systems when this filter goes out.

RO+Remin recommendation:

I will be moving to south Florida in the summer and will have a chance to change my water system and I am planning to go the RO+remin way.

After reading lost of recommendations here my top contender is the Home Master tmafc-erp because of the remin filter and the 3/8 tubing connection to the machine for water flow and pressure, and the permeate pump.

What is the feedback on this system? I also intend to connect it to the refrigerator for water and ice.

The coffee machine will be about 12-15 feet away form the sink, will this be ok in terms of pressure? The Bianca recommends about 30-35 PSI line pressure. I will add a pressure regulator with gauge in the line.

Thank you for all your feedback,

Osanties

I don't have that particular RO system, but those modular RO systems are all more or less the same. The one you've chosen has a permeate pump, which boosts the system pressure similarly to a turbocharger in a car. That's the same type of installation I have. The system will run at about 100 psi, unless throttled back with a pressure valve. We installed ours in the basement and ran 1/2-inch PEX to all the bathrooms, kitchen and the coffee bar. Our water is very hard, so our RO is downstream from a whole house water softener (ion exchanger). Thus, the RO filters remain clean for a very long time. BTW, the PEX turned out to be overkill. We installed a similar system at our cottage and used standard RO tubing, which works fine.

When I was doing my research for RO system for my machine, a friend recommended livingwatersocal.com. their RO system I have (H75+) comes with a TDS blending valve which will allow some control of TDS supplied to your machine. Wes Giardini was the guy that helped me with the many questions I had before I made the purchase.

HELP with BWT: Not sure about everyone here, but I;m not liking the BWT filtration,. Specifically I have the water pitcher. I find that the magnesium added by the pitcher makes the water more bitter and sort of a drier, saltier after taste. and it also brings out a more bitter taste on the espresso. I have read that Brita removes calcium without adding any additional minerals. Anyone have any thoughts on this.

Rob101 wrote:I have read that Brita removes calcium without adding any additional minerals. Anyone have any thoughts on this.

The standard Brita pitcher filters have some WAC resin beads that will replace hardness minerals (calcium an magnesium) with hydrogen ions, which then reduce the alkalinity and pH. But their effect is not predictable enough over the life of the filter to use them where you need softening.

The Brita longlast has no cation exchange resin at all and therefore will not reduce hardness nor alkalinity, and also will not acidify your water. It does cost more but lasts longer.

Thank you all for your feedback. After further researching building a custom Ro system from scratch is not that complex... I might just go that way and create some sort of Ca (from calcite) and Mg (from Corosex) in line blending system... I will have to study it to see how complex, accurate, and sustainable this could be.

Again thank you all.

Osanties