Bottled Water and Descalling Espresso Machine
Got to admit I have only ever used Ashbeck, but still descale on a regular basis just as a matter of course. However, I would be interested to hear from other members here what they consider the best water (bottled) to be as far as keeping the scale issue to a minimum…Oh, and of course for taste.
Should say really Lockhills will scale in the brew boiler too very slightly. Ideally, you could mix it with something to decrease alkalinity and hardness a bit more e.g. dow to 40mg/l alkalinity using something like a zero water jug, then it wouldn’t scale the brew boiler. It’s still the best IMO as I wouldn’t use ashbeck. You’ll avoid scale in the brew boiler as is with that one but it has low alkalinity (not great for taste). Adding potassium bicarb to ashbeck is an option too.
Thanks Rob1
When you say
Rob1 You’ll avoid scale in the brew boiler as is with that one but it has low alkalinity (not great for taste). Adding potassium bicarb to ashbeck is an option too.
“As is with that one” - what do you mean?
It sounds like you might be saying if I use Ashbeck and add potassium bicarb I’d avoid brew boiler scale and deal with the taste issue. But I am not sure that’s what you mean.
I mean ‘as is’ as in without adding anything to it but alkalinity is really low so you can get around it by adding potassium bicarb to avoid increasing sodium.
@Rob1, what dose of Potassium Bicarbonate would you add to a 5 litre bottle of Ashbeck ?
@PortafilterProcrastinator , it’s good practice to empty the service boiler regularly.
When the service boiler is up to pressure, turn machine off and empty as much out of the boiler as you can via the HW tap, turn machine back on and let it come up to pressure again , rinse and repeat twice.
This should help flush the solids from the boiler than can promote scaling.
I do it monthly.
Watching this thread with interest. I’ve got a Skuma RO water unit on order but won’t be delivered until June. Was planning on grabbing a Minima over the next few weeks but wondering whether I might be better holding off until I’ve got the Skuma.
dutchy101 Might be, unless you can find a bottled water that doesn’t scale. This is assuming they meet the June delivery!!
- Edited
DavecUK Yes - I hadn’t considered them overrunnung on the schedule…
I live near a Waitrose so can get hold of Lockhills, but live closer to a Tesco so use Ashbeck in the Bambino.
Thing is the Bambino is starting to leak when tge steam wand purges and it is within warrantee period so timing wise if I get a brand new replacement I could sell it on quite easily which takes a big chunk off the Minima…
dutchy101 Yes - I hadn’t considered them overrunning on the schedule…
I think there is a 99,9999% probability they will overrun, possibly significantly.
- Edited
Hmmmm. OK need to think about this carefully in that case.
Might be a case of bittled water with bicarb until the Skuma comes
Waitforme Ashbeck is about 20mg/l alkalinity, you want 40-50mg/l. Let’s call it 45mg/l for arguments sake.
Sodium bicarbonate added to water gives a result of about 60% as alkalinity.
So divide 25 (20mg/l you already have, plus what you need to hit 45mg/l) by 60 and you get 40mg/l of sodium bicarbonate, multiply this by 5l and you add 200mg to 5l of Ashbeck. Use 0.01g scales to measure this out.
Thanks @MWJB .
I’ll give this a go, I wonder if I’ll taste any difference 🤔
This is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks
MWJB Waitforme Ashbeck is about 20mg/l alkalinity, you want 40-50mg/l. Let’s call it 45mg/l for arguments sake.
Sodium bicarbonate added to water gives a result of about 60% as alkalinity.
So divide 25 (20mg/l you already have, plus what you need to hit 45mg/l) by 60 and you get 40mg/l of sodium bicarbonate, multiply this by 5l and you add 200mg to 5l of Ashbeck. Use 0.01g scales to measure this out.
Topped up the machine this morning with Ashbeck + 0.2gm added to the Ashbeck 5l container.
I was amazed at how little 0.2gm actually is, I was thinking it’d be about a teaspoonful at least 😲
Just seen Lakeland are doing this Zero Water Filter for a pretty decent price. If I’ve understood correctly using this with Waitrose Lockhills water should be fine as water for a Minima without the need to add anything else (whilst I wait for my Skuma RO unit)?
yes