Honestly, after reviewing most of this thread (so far) and following it down the rabbit hole, my head is ready to explode regarding what to do about water. I live in the Bay Area and we have always had great tasting water here in San Francisco (Hetch Hetchy source), until they started to literally water it down with other source water put in the mix a few years ago. I have not fired up my new ECM Sync yet as my grinder order shipped incorrectly... so I started researching water. The water here in SF still appears to be on the soft side if the test strip I used for my new Miele washer is any indication. Test strips, from what I read here, are not really an accurate indicator though. Checking online for the municipal test results.

We have had a Larq pitcher (original Kickstarter funding; no issues so far) for about six months, and I had hoped that would work for the ECM. Now that appears to not be the case from comments I have read. The thought of having to buy bottled water (I can not plumb this unit until if/when I move to another home) to make sure I don't degrade the unit is something I have to wrap my head around now. I guess. I know they have a water machine at the local WFM, so going to look into what that produces and if it is an option.

I already buy cases of Pellegrino at Costco, perhaps now I will be buying cases of "espresso water" there also, haha. That said, amazing thread and information contained here.

Paris92 wrote:Checking online for the municipal test results.

Let us know. It's true that the Bay area that once relied on Hetch Hetchy is now drawing more from other sources, sometimes periodically switching over to the other sources. - see here: SF Bay Area water advice (with parameters) about Bear Gulch.

For San Francisco SFPUC water and water primarily from that source you are probably going to be fine using simple particulates and carbon filtration. A recent SFPUC online report is here: https://www.sfpuc.org/sites/default/fil ... 2021_1.pdf, which indicates reasonably low chloride, and levels of calcium and of alkalinity that indicate no need to soften.

P.S.

Paris92 wrote:I know they have a water machine at the local WFM, so going to look into what that produces and if it is an option.

I believe most WFM water kiosks sell deionized water at the same price as RO, which is an economical and waste-saving option for recipe water that typically is based on distilled.

Paris92 wrote:We have had a Larq pitcher (original Kickstarter funding; no issues so far) for about six months, and I had hoped that would work for the ECM. Now that appears to not be the case from comments I have read.

I think your Larq pitcher water is probably OK. It has the carbon filtration you need, and a small amount of proprietary ion exchange resins that you don't need* but probably are not harmful. It does have some anti-bacterial features that other systems lack.

* My thinking is that if you need a softener you should use a softening filter that will do that predictably, and if you don't need a softener you are better off with a filter that contains no ion exchange resins that might tend to reduce alkalinity and acidify the water.

homeburrero wrote:A recent SFPUC online report is here: https://www.sfpuc.org/sites/default/fil ... 2021_1.pdf, which indicates reasonably low chloride, and levels of calcium and of alkalinity that indicate no need to soften.

Thanks for all the feedback. This is the same report I came across. But I really did not know what to look for or what was good and/or bad in the report.

If the tap water is "OK", would adding a BWT Bestsave M Anti Scale Filter 'pouch' in a reservoir of tap water provide a good level of protection? Overkill? Belt and suspenders? I don't mind the added $16 expense of the pouch every few months for added protection/insurance.

homeburrero wrote:P.S.
I believe most WFM water kiosks sell deionized water at the same price as RO, which is an economical and waste-saving option for recipe water that typically is based on distilled.

My local WFM has and RO kiosk. I am going to check some other local natural grocery stores for their options.

If you don't want a chemistry project, you can just purchase Crystal Geyser from Mt Shasta and call it a day.

Paris92 wrote: If the tap water is "OK", would adding a BWT Bestsave M Anti Scale Filter 'pouch' in a reservoir of tap water provide a good level of protection? Overkill? Belt and suspenders? I don't mind the added $16 expense of the pouch every few months for added protection/insurance.

I would not recommend the BWT Bestsave for SFPUC water mostly because the alkalinity is already on the low side and the WAC resins in that filter will tend to reduce that even lower. If you wanted some double insurance against limescale you could use a conventional softener pouch like the Bilt/Oscar/Rocket pouch filter. It's just a conventional softening resin that would reduce hardness minerals, and would not reduce the pH nor the alkalinity. It would do no harm, and reduce limescale risk if your utility does periodically switch over from Hetch Hetchy to harder water sources. Of course you'd still want to charcoal or carbon filter the water to remove chlorine and chloramine before adding it to the reservoir. A refrigerator filter will do that, as would your Larq pitcher filter.

chipman wrote:If you don't want a chemistry project, you can just purchase Crystal Geyser from Mt Shasta and call it a day.

That would work also. You can't specifically order or purchase CG from Mt. Shasta (aka Weed CA) - - you have to check the fine print on the bottle to verify that it's from that source.

Crystal Geyser in the bay area is from (Weed) Mt. Shasta

I've seen a mix among Crystal Geyser on the peninsula, even on the same shelf at the same time.

Edit: Smart and Final, which I believe is a Safeway brand targeted at the "warehouse" shopper.

Interesting. I've been using Crystal Geyser for about 15 years and never once saw anything but Weed on the shelf. , Maybe a store like Target, TJ or Sprouts may have had water from another source? I would guess if it was a large corporate store that had a central warehouse may be the key.

Just for the OP info, my experience has been from Lunardis and Molly Stones.