JesmondJester I’d be fine to run with the bottled water solution. I probably use 600ml a day at the moment. My main concern with this is the plastic bottle waste and collection / storage of them. First world problems.

I suppose you could argue that’s a very real ‘world problem’!

600ml a day seems a lot, that’s 10-15 espressos at least with a bit of flushing.

A four-pack of 2L bottles is £1.65 and lasts me about 2 weeks.

I agree about the plastic waste, it’s really not ideal but we’re all both so I feel like we’re doing our bit in other ways 😂

      MediumRoastSteam Both are from Armathwaite in Cumbria, maybe from different sources in the past? Maybe more recent test results?

          MWJB MediumRoastSteam Both are from Armathwaite in Cumbria, maybe from different sources in the past? Maybe more recent test results?

          Ashbeck label on the left, Lockhills on the right. Bought the bottles a while back, but if the labels can be trusted, and unless something changed recently - not the same.

          • MWJB replied to this.

              I don’t know about lockhills but ashbeck has changed recently for me anyway and the bicarbonate is now 46mg which I believe is much more boiler friendly. Volvic is apparently the way to go but a lot more expensive than the Waitrose and Tesco own brands.

                steve_07 I don’t know about lockhills but ashbeck has changed recently for me anyway and the bicarbonate is now 46mg which I believe is much more boiler friendly.

                Can you maybe post a picture of the Ashbeck label with Bicarbonate at 46mg please? I just checked some newer bottles I have in the garage and mine are still showing 25mg. I will try to remember to have another look next time I’m at Tesco, but I think I bought those bottles only a few weeks ago.

                    Mine is the same, I just checked. I also notice that the Calcium has increased from 11mg to 17mg…

                    steve_07 Doram mine is a 5L bottle so not sure if that makes a difference

                    Thanks!

                    Oh dear, that’s not great with TDs almost doubled. :(

                        Doram As you say, “bought a while back”, both labels have now changed.

                          Doram It’s not a bad thing, even now it only just gets into the the ‘good boiler water’ recommendations from SCAA, SCA, Water for Coffee.

                              MWJB Doram It’s not a bad thing, even now it only just gets into the the ‘good boiler water’ recommendations from SCAA, SCA, Water for Coffee

                              I may well have the wrong end of the stick here, but I have to admit that my top priority has been to minimize scale, with less consideration for getting to SCAA, SCA recommendation.

                              Time will tell.

                                  Doram Yes mine too but I’m comparing against tap water which is very hard in my area. I decided Tesco ashbeck was cheap enough and close enough to be convenient. I understand not idea but a compromise.

                                    Ernie1

                                    You could!

                                    At the moment i am having 2x V60 and either a moka or an espresso after lunch. During the week. Probably four coffee drinks on Saturday and Sunday.

                                        simonc

                                        Thanks!

                                        I think I will spend some time this weekend creating a spreadhseet and doing cost comparisons.

                                          JesmondJester

                                          Ah I see, you wouldn’t need to use the bottled water for V60 and moka pot, unless you can taste a significant difference.

                                          I find tap water is ok for brew methods so just use the bottled for the espresso machine.

                                            Former Zerowater jug user here. I made up 5L at a time and mixed this with 320mg of sodium bicarbonate to bring alkalinity up to the desired level. I did this for a year.

                                            Since getting my Skuma I’m feeding the machine with RO water. I haven’t checked alkalinity, but the coffee tastes good to me and I’m hoping I’m getting enough drainage from the service boiler daily (about ¾ cups of tea a day) to keep scale away

                                              Is there much taste difference between Brita filtered tap water, and bottled water, when brewed as espresso ? We’re in a soft-water area, so no real need to use bottled but I’m curious how much taste difference people find when switching.

                                              It was all too complicated for me so decided to use bottled, picking some 2 L bottles of Ashbeck in Tesco the label said Calcium 11mg, magnesium 3.5mg residue 85mg, looking at the 5 L bottle that said 17, 5 and 140. Curiously both were bottled at source in Armathwaite, so how does that work? Checking my Waitrose 2 L Lockhills the label exactly matches the Tesco 5L bottle. Does water change it’s composition according to the size of bottle and can water from two different sources have exactly the same composition.

                                                SurreyAlan Drawn from different places/springs from the same aquifer? Maybe tested at different times?

                                                No the water won’t change composition based on bottle size.

                                                  Doram TDS doesn’t indicate scaling potential, because it’s the calcium, magnesium (total hardness) and the alkalinity (temporary hardness - the ability for the total hardness to deposit) that are factors here.

                                                  TDS is everything in the water, a lot of which won’t affect scaling.

                                                  The parties mentioned are just using common parlance and units in their analysis, nothing unusual in what they are saying.