So, after reading through all the topics here around water, and also venturing on making my own water (I currently use a mix of Potassium Bicarb and Magnesium Sulfate), I thought I was settled regarding the water situation.

But then, one day at Trader Joe's, I decided to read the label of their "Pure New Zealand Artesian Water" and although it didn't have any detailed water composition, there were 2 things that called my attention:

Total Dissolved Solids: 150ppm

and the following claim: "from an ancient aquifer 600 feet beneath the surface of the Earth and completely natural. We've added nothing and taken nothing away"



I've bought one of these bottles, and with my TDS meter it measured 100ppm. I've been using it for filter (Hario V60 and Kalita Wave) and results have been delicious.

I now want to decide whether it would be a good idea to load my GS3 with this water or not.

So, my next step was talking to TJ's store manager and asking for a detailed water quality report. He didn't have it and asked me to shoot an email to the address indicated in the label. So I did it and so far no answer. As I'm a very impatient guy, I've tried to figure it out by myself. The label also indicates this water is bottled at source, Paeroa, NZ. I then learn that a well known water label in NZ is bottled at the same source: "1907 Artesian Water - Naturally Alkaline". For this water, I find the following information:



So, taking the assumption that this is the same composition of the water I'm buying, my 2 questions to the Water Gurus are:

1 - How will it taste?
2 - Will it do any harm to my Machine (LM GS3)?

See the following http://www.lamarzoccousa.com/wp-content ... ations.pdf

This water is within LM guidelines and does not appear to be chlorinated, so no harm to your machine based on this water.
Considering there is not harm to be incurred I would say try it to see if you like the taste. If possible also compare pH levels of both waters.

Yes, I saw it. But still, checking it side-by-side, it doesn't seem I'm comparing apples to apples.

Best way I can think would be to add another column to LM table and fill it with the Trader Joe's water to have everything in the same measurement unit for an accurate comparison. Can somebody please help me fill this out?

I wanted to know which of the yellow boxes I can get filled from the info I posted above.



Also, does this Calcium content (1.08 mg/L) justify any need for descaling?

Just got the detailed analysis report in my email (looks very different from the one I found by googling ). Here it is:


Now I'm even more confused

How to translate it into La Marzocco Specs?

"Now I'm even more confused" JOIN THE CLUB!

The only people that understand this topic can not explain it to us in a simple way we non Chemist people can understand.

That water looks to be incredibly soft. 1 g/m3 = 1 ppm.

I have seen people who love that for pour over but will be super bright in espresso based on what I see.

It's way too alkaline. It appears that almost all the tds is from bicarbonate which will ruin the good acidity of coffee and high potential for scale.

I know from experience because my tap water is close to that.

It's really easy to make great water....

brianl wrote:That water looks to be incredibly soft. 1 g/m3 = 1 ppm.

I have seen people who love that for pour over but will be super bright in espresso based on what I see.

Why is it incredibly soft? Where did you see that info? Please understand, I'm not disagreeing, I just need to learn how to read it...

Aguirre wrote:How to translate it into La Marzocco Specs?

The La Marzocco specs (http://www.lamarzoccousa.com/wp-content ... ations.pdf ) specify Alkalinity and Hardness in units of ppm as CaCO3. And your NZ water's detailed analysis uses units of g/m³ as CaCO3 which luckily is the same as ppm as CaCO3 .

So your water has a total alkalinity of 114 ppm as CaCO3, and LM recommends 40-80
It has a total hardness of 12.3 ppm as CaCO3, and LM recommends 70-100

So relative to the LM specs it has too much alkalinity and is way too soft.

However, it should not deposit scale (because it's so soft) and probably is not corrosive because of the high alkalinity and pH. If you've used it in your machine it should cause no harm. Unfortunately your analysis has no number for chloride, so you can't evaluate that with respect to the LM recommendation. LM wants the chloride to be below 30 ppm because high numbers might give you problems with pittting corrosion. That water, like almost all bottled water, probably has near zero chlorine.

Aguirre wrote:Why is it incredibly soft? Where did you see that info? Please understand, I'm not disagreeing, I just need to learn how to read it...

from the report i see 12.3g/m3 for total hardness.
and at ph 8.1 is a bit basic.

@Aguirre: the recipe for making water yourself, how have your results been - are you trying to better the water or just think something is lacking in your water?