water in london - volvic the only option?

[mankini]

hello...
i have read volvic seems to be an ideal choice of water for espresso machines etc... esp due to the hardness of london water...
apart from volvic are any other supermarket waters that will be gentle on my new rocket cellini?
what about filtering london tap water with britta filters?
thanks...

[orrinoconnor]

I think it may take a bit more than a Britta filter to soften London water.
Why don't you give Scott a call at happydonkey he sells an in tank water filter
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/water-filters.html
I know London water is extremely hard, it would do no harm to Brita filter it as well I suppose.
There is different types of filtration, Scott would be able to advise you better!

[P.B]

hello...
apart from volvic are any other supermarket waters that will be gentle on my new rocket cellini?
what about filtering london tap water with britta filters?
thanks...

If you look on the Sainburys website they detail the harness of each bottled water http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1297492054322 Anyway, the short answer is no. All the other bottled water has far "higher dry residue" which is stated in mg/l and therefore, I am assuming equates to hardness.

Britta filters = useless. They do not filter the componds that cause scale. If you used one you'd still have to regulalry descale your kettle and your coffee machine would be the same.

Paul

[Jasonscheltus]

Britta filters = useless. They do not filter the componds that cause scale. If you used one you'd still have to regulalry descale your kettle and your coffee machine would be the same.
Paul

That's not true. Even the jug ones do reduce the amount of magnesium and calcium in water, although obviously not as effectively as a reverse osmosis system or some others.

We used Brita Purity 'C' inline water filters a lot in London, and we measured the affect it had on TDS readings of the water. From memory they reduced readings from around 400 down to 150.

[P.B]

Britta filters = useless. They do not filter the componds that cause scale. If you used one you'd still have to regulalry descale your kettle and your coffee machine would be the same.
Paul

That's not true. Even the jug ones do reduce the amount of magnesium and calcium in water, although obviously not as effectively as a reverse osmosis system or some others.

We used Brita Purity 'C' inline water filters a lot in London, and we measured the affect it had on TDS readings of the water. From memory they reduced readings from around 400 down to 150.

Sorry, let me clarify: the jug ones that are changed every four weeks appear to have zero effect on the amount of scale in my kettle and from memory had minimal effect on the TDS.

[GeoffsCigars]

I don't know about London water, but here in Hartlepool the water is so hard that you can sharpen knives on it! A splash on a dark granite work surface leaves a white ring if left overnight! Brita filters certainly work here, and before I started using them I was lucky if a kettle lasted a couple of years. Using only Brita filtered water has changed this dramatically, not eliminating scaling, but certainly reducing it to about a tenth of it's level.

I've only ever used Brita filtered water in my well-used Pavoni, and have been able to keep scale at bay by quarterly descaling. I'm now using a Rocket Premium, and descale routinely every couple of months. A year on, and no sign of scaling.

I do expect though, that there may well be different kinds of hardness. Luckily the Brita treatment works where I am.

[aselby99]

i used an in tank filter and brita jug filter on my water before my brewtus went down for what seems like the last time.

no problems. even the brita jug in a normal kettle has made a big difference to scale and quality of cups of tea here in brighton, which isn't great water otherwise.

[motoman]

I have been usung a Brita filterred kettle for eight years, still no sign of scale. Our water in Bridgnorth is quite soft so that must help.

[Jurgen]

Hi Mankini

I use nothing else than Brita-filtered water with my Vibiemme and before with the Gaggia CC.
We also use Brita-filtered water for the kettle and the scaling the water leaves on the kettle is absolutely minimal compared to what it would be like without running it through the filter. Therefore I suppose it wouldn't leave any critical scaling on the espresso machine either.
In my opinion, Brita-Water is perfectly fine. However, a periodic descaling every 6/12 months (depending on usage) can't harm, I guess.

BTW: Brita-filtered water not only prevents scaling, it also tastes much better as the majority of chlorine is also kept in the filter.

Rgds,
Jurgen

[phil2spill]

I don't like the variability of domestic Brita filtered water; I suspect the performance of these cartridges falls away quickly. I prefer to use Tesco Ashbeck which at 80 mg/L TDS seems like a good compromise between flavour and scaling. If I find one of about 60 mg/L I'd be interested to see if that makes much difference to flavour.

[mabenson]

I plumbed in one of these http://www.screwfix.com/p/water-filter-kit/14306 onto our mains line when I bought my new machine.
Took a while to drill through the sink to install the tap but it works really nicely. The only extra thing I added was a 1/4 inch tap from ebay between the self tapping valve and the filter. That means I can switch it off to change the cartridge without messing with the self tapping valve. Whilst they are supposed to be ok to switch on and off I didn't want to risk it.

[triptogenetica]

FWIW - i use Tesco own brand spring water, cheaper than volvic and with low TDS. Make sure to get the scottish one (?caledonian), not the english one. You can check the TDS on the side.

(I would plumb in, but living in a student rental makes that a non-option really).

[triptogenetica]

I prefer to use Tesco Ashbeck which at 80 mg/L TDS...

Ah, should have read the above posts - it may well be Ashbeck i use! Can't check as I'm not in the UK right now.