LMSC No. I didn’t say that.
I know. My confusion was that I was trying to hack my brains to find why would one bother putting RO water through a water softener. But I understand it’s a benefit of putting softened water through an RO system. The initial comment which started this was written the other way round, to me at least. Anyway, water under the bridge (RO or Softened?) 🤣. It’s all clear now. :-)
CoyoteOldMan oh. I thought I need to use RO, for which I have lack of plumping knowledge to connect the devices. Obviously, I was wrong. Will go for the ZeroWater route then. May I also get some advice on minimal to add please? Thanks again!
CoyoteOldMan btw, what is your workflow for using zerowater? Do you filter a large amount of water say once a week and fill up the whole boiler? Do I need to keep water in the device during the week?
For my Robot, maybe I need a separate container to store the filtered water. Need to store in fridge?
Knluk some advice on minimal to add please?
I guess you mean ‘minerals to add’? What I use is
scale as you like (I use a concentrate).
Knluk what is your workflow for using zerowater?
Filter what I need when I need it - the Evo’s tank holds a bit less than 2.5 litres, and I use about half that every day (a lever is definitely “water wasteful”). I will check the machine in the morning, and make 1 or 1.5 litres of remineralised water to top up. It takes about 10-15 minutes to filter this much water.
Knluk Do I need to keep water in the device during the week?
Well, @dutchy101 got this advice from Zerowater, but I can’t find it on the website - I’m doing it, as it costs nothing: just fill the pitcher up after I fill the machine. What they do say is that keeping the pitcher in the fridge is not necessary, as long as it’s kept outside of sunlight.
As CoyoteOldMan states, ZeroWater advised me to keep the filter in water to get the most out of the filters when I asked them about this. I leave the jug full of water in the fridge.
I make up 2 batches of 5l of zero water at a time. I store this in old Tesco Ashbeck bottles, which I wash out with detergent each time after they are emptied and also steralise them with Milton once a month too. I do the same with the Zero jug too.
I add 320mg of sodium bicarbonate to 5L of zero water to bring the alkalinity into the desired range.
@OsmioWater @hysaf is selling his evo lever for a great price
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
yes :). Minerals sorry. I presume I have to add all these salts after I filter out the salt in the softened water? Let me look for those minerals in Amazon
I only store the Zero jug in the fridge. I keep the stored water in a dark cupboard. Not sure whether it’s necessary to store the Zero jug in the fridge, but I have the space to do so for the jug.
Knluk Yes - first de-ionise, then remineralise; for table salt, what you find at the supermarket is fine (preferably not sea salt). For the others, I used these guys on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/intralabs
i use intralabs too, but i only use potassium bicarb as i dont want to descale my machine haha
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Cuprajake I’m hoping that a combination of using only magnesium and frequent (6 weeks) water changes will help…
for you or me?
i use the water tap daily, so quite happy about my through put of water :)
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Cuprajake For me, for me. I also drain a cup of water in the evening, but inevitably over a few weeks the water does end up at (or just over) scaling point in the steam boiler, as it gets replaced with tank (brew) water. Which is why a ‘reload’ with pure water should help.
Cuprajake Not Dave, but yes, you are totally correct. If you use R Pavlis’s recipe, no scale. I just like the flavour with Magnesium… (possibly a ‘problem’ due to my preference for dark roasts - we are finding Black Cat’s Chocolate Point a bit too acidic, even brewed at 90 °C)
So no need to drain the service boiler after a period of time and draw water after steaming etc.?
The reason I went with sodium bicarbonate and zero water was it was simple andI could understand it.
Is it the same principle, as in adding the potassium to bring up alkalinity to the desireable level
CoyoteOldMan Black Cat’s Chocolate Point
Wow! You may try 1 or 2C higher I pulled at 92/98.
I feed the default remineralised RO. On an average, over the last 1 year, , the feeding water had the general hardness of 9 mg/l, alkalinity of about 40 mg/l and TDS of 35-45. The steam water averaged about 18 mg/l to 20 mg/l, the alkalinity of 45 mg/l to 50 mg/l and the TDS of 75-80.
You are correct, I don’t believe potassium carbonate scales….but over time the service boiler concentration will rise, at which point you should refresh the water once it gets above a level you are comfortable with.
