We have upgraded and have our Lelit Bianca arriving in a few days- very much looking forward to the upgrade from our BBE. Out of an abundance of caution wanted to test our water and ask to make sure I am understanding correctly so as not to damage our machine over time. My GH and KH levels both came back at 35.8 ppm using the API GH and KH test kit.

I am not a chemist and have read the long faq, but it seems like this water would be safe to use. My backup plan was to make our own water from distilled but this would obviously be much more convenient until we plumb the machine (with the appropriate treatments) a few years down the road.

Any thoughts, am I missing the mark completely? Thank you in advance.

jdbone wrote:My GH and KH levels both came back at 35.8 ppm using the API GH and KH test kit.

That would be two drops for that kit, which, given that it's more than 1 drop and less than 3 drops would put GH and KH rougly in the 18 ppm - 55 ppm range in CaCO3 equivalents. That's a good place to be in terms of having adequate alkalinity and not so much carbonate hardness that you'd expect scale problems. If you want better precision, then find a vial that holds a 10 ml sample rather than the stock 5 ml , and do the test again. Then multiply each drop by 9 to get your GH and KH values in CaCO3 equivalent ppm. (e.g., If you get 4 drops it would be 27 ppm - 45 ppm.)


I'm a little surprised that your water is that soft. The reports we've seen for nearby Washington DC water are much harder than that. You might try calling your own water authority to help assure that your measures are right and representative of hardness over the whole year. Also ask them about chloride numbers, which may be borderline high depending on how much Potomac water is in your source - it could make a difference if you decide to plumb it in down the road. OOps. I misread and thought you were located in Hyattsville MD. Your numbers look right on for Atlanta water.

Polish Spring is recommended in Jim Schulman's Insanely Long Water FAQ.

La Marzocco has a cheap test kit that tests everything they deem important. They apparently include one with a new machine, but I've never owned a new LM machine. This link does a better job explaining what they test.

https://www.espressoparts.com/la-marzoc ... r-test-kit

I'm looking at different test kits and will be seeing how the La Marzocco kit does versus other alternatives later this week. Right now, before any evaluation, I wish I had been aware of the LM kit at the outset. I think they know equipment and what water does to it. But, we'll see how it stacks up.

homeburrero wrote:OOps. I misread and thought you were located in Hyattsville MD. Your numbers look right on for Atlanta water.

No worries, recent transplants to Atlanta but can't live without my steady deliveries of Vigilante's Tin Lizzie beans.

I'll give that 10 ml test a try and see how it shakes out. Assuming all continues to look good would you keep the included filter in the reservoir? Seems like it wouldn't hurt. If the numbers look good I'll just have to experiment to see which water taste I prefer.

Also in Atlanta here (Vinings). Congrats on the Bianca. Came very very close to purchasing one but went for a Synchronika with flow control instead and have ordered a Ceado grinder. My water comes from the Cobb/Marietta Water Authority but I think all our Atlanta area water is generally considered "soft" and suitable for use in our machines without the use of alot of alteration. I did the same thing as you with the test kit, and also took similar numbers from the report on the water system which I've attached. Ran these umbers through WLL's LSI index online calculator and the results called for "no treatment." I'm excited about the new machine as I'm sure you are. It was a very hard decision to make but I eventually with the ECM which in my case replaces a basic heat exchange Bezzera machine with the BZ head instead of an E91 that's about 12 years old. Congrats!

Awesome, thank you for the reply. I have read all the discussion about various water recipes and water horror stories so that when I read my counties (dekalb) water report and then my own tests results I was still worried that I was reading everything incorrectly and I would be doing some irreparable harm! I really thought about the synchronika as well, especially given the ability to change out some of the case to reduce all the chrome. Enjoy the new machines, I know I am excited!

Here is La Marzocco's spec, which are in the ballpark with SCAA specs.

I am associated with my rural water system and know that chlorine dissipates fairly rapidly. The amount of measured chlorine at the point of injection compared to a measurement taken at the end of the water line is significantly different. Technically, we're not required by DEQ to use chlorine in our water, we do it for line sanitation. The water system adjacent to ours does not use chlorine at all.

The net here is a city spec sheet is a little bit of ymmv on Cl.

jdbone wrote:Assuming all continues to look good would you keep the included filter in the reservoir? Seems like it wouldn't hurt. If the numbers look good I'll just have to experiment to see which water taste I prefer.

The LeLit filter is a conventional ion exchange softener (SAC resin) that would lower your calcium and magnesium hardness, and fortunately will leave your alkalinity unchanged and would not acidify the water. The lower calcium hardness would put you more solidly down in the "never needs descaling" zone, but you are probably already there without it. With your low hardness Atlanta water, you could just replace the LeLit filter with a simple hose-end mesh that prevents any particles that find their way into the reservoir from getting into the intake hose.

That LeLit filter has no charcoal, so whether or not you use it you'll ideally want to filter chlorine* somehow. You could use a refrigerator's waterline filter for that if you have that. Or an activated charcoal pitcher filter, preferably one like the new Brita Longlast that has no WAC ion exchange resins. (WAC resins are not ideal here because they do tend to reduce alkalinity and acidify the water.)

* Chlorine (not the same thing as chloride) is a disinfection product that is there in small amounts. It will dissipate from an open reservoir on its own in a day or so, and is easily removed by charcoal block or granulated activated charcoal filters.