Plumb in - or not?

[HughF]

Hugh - I got the softener from my preferred espresso engineer (Roy Ireland). It's a Brita. It looks like a small air cylinder and it's bright blue.

That's pretty much all I can tell you.

Thanks Phil, that's fine. The new job's still working out well so, touch wood, I'll be shopping at end October.

Cheers,

Hugh

[Danny]

Your call, my friend. However RO water over-extracts the coffee.

Not only that but you can have problems with the autofill in the boiler as I remember.

-D

[Joey]

Every espresso machine mechanics in Vienna tells me not to use any kind of filter as our water is exactly what the coffee needs for the perfect taste. We have about 6-11° dh, that depends from which mountain the water flows. (We have two main fountaines, and one extra place in a forest.)
In mmol/l it's 1,07 - 1,96.
In english ° this would be 7,7 - 13,5°
(there is obviousily a difference between german and english° when it comes to "hard water")
Most of the times it's 7° in Vienna, that's 8,75° in english.

As the Viennese water is famous for it's good quality and natural ingredients, maybe this can be used as a measurement/role model:
--------(note that the number refer to fountain #1 / #2)------------------
coliforme Bakterien in 250 ml = 0 / 0
Escherichia coli in 250 ml = 0 / 0
elektrische Leitfähigkeit (uS/cm) = 290 / 260
pH-Wert = 7,8 / 7,96
Gesamthärte (Grad deutsche Härte) = 8,3 / 7,4
Karbonathärte (Grad deutsche Härte) = 7,4 / 7,2
Totaler organischer Kohlenstoff (mg/l) = 0,43 / 0,65
Ammonium (mg/l) = <0,01 / <0,01
Nitrit (mg/l) = <0,008 / <0,008
Nitrat (mg NO3/l) = 4,7 / 3,9
Chlorid (mg/l) = 2,7 / 1,9
Sulfat (mg/l) = 13 / 4,7
And I was told NOT to try to get rid of some water hardness, as the coffee needs it to develope some flavors. So totally filtered water is not so perfect.... :drink:

just my 2 cents from what I have learned rescently...

joey

[tisri]

Your call, my friend. However RO water over-extracts the coffee.

I got a plumber to run a hose from where the rising main is tapped off for the softener and through behind my kitchen units to where the machine is. That job also cost me another ton, but who's counting?

I tried using plain softened water (rather than softened and RO-filtered) and it does taste better. I'm not in the market for any plumbing changes since a completely new kitchen is under design, but certainly something to keep in mind for when it's ready to roll.