Water filter help - for a non-chemist

Water analysis, treatment, and mineral recipes for optimum taste and equipment health.
HenryL
Posts: 17
Joined: 5 years ago

#1: Post by HenryL »

Hello! I've recently purchased my second espresso machine, it's my first direct-plumb one (Synchronika). I'm running it using the reservoir currently, but hope to get it plumbed soon. In the mean time, I'm trying to find an appropriate filter to use with it. I've read some of the threads here and a "really long water FAQ" that was referenced in them - but my eyes quickly got crossed as the data goes straight over my head - chemistry really never was my strong suit.

I used the API hardness test kit and checked the city water quality report and came up with the following numbers:

KH (alkalinity?):35.8 (2dGH)
GH : 71.6 (4dGH)

Chloride : 10-26 (15avg)
TDS : 77-103 (90avg)

I want to do what I reasonable can to keep the ECM working well and eliminate scale buildup, since the manufacturer says it should not be descaled at home. I also want to keep things simple if I can. I got the machine at WLL, I checked there and also at Clive Coffee and each have their own filters they recommend as sufficient for my needs. One is the BWT Bestmax system with a Premium S filter, the other is by Homeland. Leaning to the Bestmax.

Would either one of these be enough to eliminate scale with what I think is fairly soft water? From other posts here, I also see that chloride might be the biggest concern rather than scale - am I understanding that right? And if that's the case, is there a solution for that other than a multi-filter/extra water tank under the counter type RO filter?

Appreciate any feedback and guidance y'all can provide.

-Henry

User avatar
homeburrero
Team HB
Posts: 4863
Joined: 13 years ago

#2: Post by homeburrero »

Your alkalinity (KH) is already about perfect, and you have a little chloride in your water, so I would recommend avoiding any filters that reduce the alkalinity, which includes the Bestmax. (Other names for filters that reduce the alkalinity are: decarbonizing filter, WAC filter, hydrogen ion exchange filter, or any filter that claims to reduce carbonate hardness.)

If you simply used a particulate and charcoal filter, you would have ideal water from a taste perspective (or what the current conventional wisdom believes to be ideal.) With your numbers it would rarely or never need descaling, but scale might be a possibility after long use. If so, your machine is not that hard to descale - you just want to do that properly and only after seeing some scale buildup and before seeing heavy scale buildup. (Vendors don't like descaling by machine owners because they don't do it right and cause more problems than they solve.)

That Clive/Homeland filter is a combination of carbon, particulate, and, I'm pretty sure, a conventional softener, and should be a reasonable choice for your water - it would remove hardness and leave the alkalinity where it is. With that one you'd never need to descale. If you go for that one, please ask the folks at Clive to verify that it uses a conventional softening resin (a SAC resin, and not a WAC resin) that reduces hardness and not alkalinity. It's a very important distinction that is currently not clear on their web site's description, or in the very lacking documentation from Homeland.

Some folks believe that you want hardness for tasty extraction, but many others use home-made water in their machine with zero hardness (e.g. the R. Pavlis water recipe) and report that it makes perfectly tasty espresso.

That 10 - 26 ppm chloride ion will go right through all of these filters, but isn't that high and should not be a problem as long as you don't reduce your water's alkalinity.

P.S.
On the API kit, KH is indeed an alkalinity test, and 2 drops would mean somewhere between about 25 and 50 ppm. To get a little better precision you can use 10ml rather than 5ml of water in the sample tube, then multiply each drop by 9 to get your ppm (or mg/L) alkalinity as CaCO3.
Pat
nínádiishʼnahgo gohwééh náshdlį́į́h

HenryL (original poster)
Posts: 17
Joined: 5 years ago

#3: Post by HenryL (original poster) »

Thank you for the great explanation! I've reached out to Clive as well as Homeland and have yet to get a response from either on the HCWS filter. Searching for other alternatives, but not finding much. Did find one earlier that mentioned "sodium ion exchange" which I gather is the type I need (of course I lost the link haha).

Also I did the water tests using 10ml and also did PH, results are:

KH - 27
GH - 63
PH - 7.6-7.8

Thanks again for your very detailed reply, it really helped me start wrapping my brain around this.

-Henry

HenryL (original poster)
Posts: 17
Joined: 5 years ago

#4: Post by HenryL (original poster) »

Hi again, quick update. I still haven't heard back from Clive or Homeland regarding the resin type in their filter :-( . I checked back with WLL, and they do have a BWT filter kit that includes a BWT BestTaste filter instead of the BestMax. If I'm reading correctly, this filter is of the particulate & carbon only type that was suggested, have I got that right?

Happy Friday!

-Henry

User avatar
homeburrero
Team HB
Posts: 4863
Joined: 13 years ago

#5: Post by homeburrero »

HenryL wrote:quick update. I still haven't heard back from Clive or Homeland regarding the resin type in their filter :-( .
I'm almost positive that it's a conventional softening resin, just wish they'd make that clear to people considering that filter. They do say that it has a capacity of "1,700 grains of hardness" which strongly indicates conventional softening. A decarbonizing filter would normally state their capacity in "carbonate hardness" terms if at all.
HenryL wrote:I checked back with WLL, and they do have a BWT filter kit that includes a BWT BestTaste filter instead of the BestMax. If I'm reading correctly, this filter is of the particulate & carbon only type that was suggested, have I got that right?
Yes. (Spec sheet here.)

P.S.
At your 63 ppm total hardness ( 3.7 grains per gallon), that 1700 grain filter could treat over 400 gallons. You would be replacing it only once every 6 months (the longest recommended interval irrespective of resin depletion.)
Pat
nínádiishʼnahgo gohwééh náshdlį́į́h

HenryL (original poster)
Posts: 17
Joined: 5 years ago

#6: Post by HenryL (original poster) »

Just a quick note to thank you for the guidance you offered. It was on backorder for a while, but I ordered the Homeland softener/filter system when they came in stock. System is on it's way and should be here some time next week.

-Henry

NervousEnergy
Posts: 11
Joined: 6 years ago

#7: Post by NervousEnergy »

Another question on the Homeland filter - I've been running one since April, so it's technically due for a change, but the system is still running fine and softening away. It only runs a Synchronika that does 2-4 doubles a day plus steaming, so it's likely only had a couple hundred gallons through it at most. Probably less.

What drives the recommended 6 month change? I test every few weeks with strips (Amazon has a 100 pack for like $10) and the pretty hard water here in Dallas out of the tap is as soft out of the machine as it was the day I put in the filter. They're not terribly expensive to replace, but absent other data I suspect the 6 month replacement recommendation is based more on marketing / liability than science. Am I wrong there?

pcrussell50
Posts: 4010
Joined: 15 years ago

#8: Post by pcrussell50 »

homeburrero wrote: Some folks believe that you want hardness for tasty extraction, but many others use home-made water in their machine with zero hardness (e.g. the R. Pavlis water recipe) and report that it makes perfectly tasty espresso.
Going from memory here, Robert was of the mind that you don't use water that adds to or adulterates the flavor of the coffee. As such, distilled water would be ideal. But since distilled water is not so ideal for the equipment, that was why he would add potassium (or sodium) bicarbonate... So that the water would have the least effect on what is intrinsically in the coffee. He seemed to be implying that certain water chemistries can alter the flavor of the coffee, possibly even for the better (of course that is subjective), but that his objective was to not alter the flavor of the coffee.

Putting that out there in light of the belief in having some hardness to "enhance" your espresso.

Not saying either thing is right or wrong. I will add a personal note that since I am not an expert taster, I bias my water chemistry towards the health of the machine. I have experimented with some of Matt Pergers harder waters using magnesium sulphate as the hardener. I still do from time to time. But I'm not sure I can tell the difference vs. hardness free water.

-Peter
LMWDP #553