Hi, I am quite new to the forum. I am about to invest to plumb in my espresso machine and I am deciding between the BWT BestMax system from WLL vs the Homeland system from Clive.

I have not really found any direct comparison anywhere online, but I do know that BWT is offered in many prominent coffee sites while the Homeland is only at Clive. Not to mention that there is a steep difference in price between the 2 systems and each replacement filter.

I heard a few people mention that the BWT is not worth the investment for home use, and that the results / quality are the same with the Homeland.

I was hoping to get advice from everyone who can help. Thank you so much in advance for the insight and advice!

I've been looking at both systems as well. I look forward to others who have had experience with them.

@espressokris what's your water like in Santa Monica?
@Plinyyounger what's your water like in Coeur D'alene?

Maybe get your water reports and see what there is. For example in AZ here we have high chlorides. No plumping in; so I have a cart system and make my own water. You may not the need the softener that is part of the Clive system.

Chris Coffee also sells a water filtration system as well a Mavea.

If you post in the water forum, there are really good people that will comment on that first and then you can decide what's best for where you are.

Here is the latest water report. I've also taken a local hardness test and it is between 70-85ish here at my home.i would love to get some experienced water guys to tell me what I need to do. I'm very ignorant when it comes to this subject. I don't feel like my water is terrible by any means, but heck I could be wrong.

https://www.cdaid.org/files/Water/2018W ... Report.pdf

Water hardness at my place is 180-250.

So, softener is definitely needed. I have also posted this same question at the water section in the forum.

Thanks to everyone who have shared so far. Hoping to get more specific info.

I don't want to hijack the post with my own water readings, but I will just say I have the exact same question as well.

Why is BWT twice the price and is it worth it for home useage?

Are there any tools to use in conjunction with my own water report to ascertain which filter would better fit the profile of my local water? I am local to Clive Coffee here in Portland oR, so I'd assume the water filter they sell there is well suited for Portland, OR water?

Portland water has very low TDS and won't scale your machine. Pretty much the same as Seattle water. You only need course and carbon filtration.

Thank you. How can I install that in line for direct plumb? Sounds like I don't want the Clive solution as it will soften my already extremely soft water?

Something along the lines of a single canister whole house filter with a carbon block cartridge should do the job. Most of the home improvement stores (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) carry brands that are compatible with a range of cartridges.

Here is one example from Lowe's

Additional hardware/fittings would be needed to match your specific plumbed-in setup.

A complete setup (only exception might be the outlet from the filter to the machine inlet) could be purchased from Chris Coffee.

In addition to the filter, I'd personally add a pressure regulator to the line. My machine tends to drip into the tray when idle if the water line pressure is too high and this can help with that. Here is an example from Chris Coffee.

Additional hardware to add a bleed-off line to deal with getting rid of air when changing filters could be added with a tee connection and a third valve.

If unsure about all of this, the folks at Chris Coffee or one of the other supply/service companies should be able to put together a package.

jpreiser's advice above applies nicely to dsc106 from Portland, and other areas with very soft water.

I think plinyounger from Coeur D'alene got his answer from Ciaran in another thread: My water report-any help is greatly appreciated

espressokris from Santa Monica (the OP) probably has pretty hopeless water that would require RO because of high chloride. The Santa Monica water reports are a little confusing because their water comes from four sources, some very high in chloride and some very high in hardness minerals. If I lived there I might see if I could get numbers for my neighborhood from the water utility, but the water there looks so bad that I'd probably just go with an RO unit with remineralization.