Bottled Water and Descalling Espresso Machine

@Rob1 , thanks for taking the time to respond.

I haven’t added anything to the tap water, just to the Ashbeck.

@LMSC According to the kit I have the sample size should be 10ml but I’ve used 20ml to try and get a more accurate reading.

I’ll run both tests again tomorrow and pay particular attention to the moment I see any colour change. And be sure to drip vertically.

My scales display in 0.01g increments but doesn’t say how accurate they are.

So I carried out the tests again, twice for both the tap water and the Ashbeck.

Only the Ashbeck has the 200mg of Bicarbonate of Soda added per 5l.

My scales appear to be accurate to 0.01g

I shook the reagents prior to dropping and dropped vertically into the containers.

The results for the tap water were the same as I got previously in both tests today , total hardness 5 drops in 20ml / 2 giving 2.5 degrees German, and 2 drops for Carbonate hardness in 20ml / 2 giving 1 degree German.

The Ashbeck test gave results of 7 drops for Total hardness in the first test today and 6 in the second test , giving 3 - 3.5 Degrees German and 6 drops for carbonate hardness in the first test and 5 in the second test giving 2.5 - 3 degrees German.

Do these results make any more sense @Rob1 ?

Thanks @Rob1 , if my results for the tap water are accurate is it boiler safe water, it would appear to be better than the Ashbeck is my understanding?

Local authority test results for my postcode are 25mg HCO3/l and 31.24 CaCOmg/l , although they were taken in 2019.

I must carry out the test with different levels of Bicarbonate added to the Ashbeck.

One final question , is there a particular test kit for home use that is more accurate than another ?

Ok , one more ….. Is a TDS meter worth using ?

Thanks again.

Rob1 Hi Rob. How do you put this 400ml only into the service boiler as I’m assuming you wouldn’t want it in the brew boiler?

simonc

The excess from the distiller per run is stored away and is used for making concentrates and filling the service boiler. I remove the anti-vac valve and pour it in rather than run the pump on and off until the boiler fills, mainly because it’s less faff than messing about with the reservoir and I don’t have to listen to the pump running.

prezes

If you held the droppers perfectly upright and squeezed on drop at a time, you stop at the first colour change and your results will be consistent….

So with that said.

Service Boiler:

GH - 10 drops = 179 / 4 = >44.75 <49.23

KH - 7 drops = 125.3 / 4 = >31.32 <35.8

RO Water:

GH - 6 drops = 107.4 / 4 = >26.85 <31.33

KH - 5 drops = 89.5 / 4 = >22.37 <26.85

Testing your service boiler water 7 weeks after the last drain and drawing a cup of water a week is of little use unless you’ve managed to just about identify the point it might become a problem. Depending on the temp you run your service boiler at (assuming 125c) it’s about time to empty the boiler again. A small increase in alkalinity and you’ll start to get some scale.

prezes You’ll see an increase after you steam, so no not really. Technically there is no sweet spot as both corrosion and scaling change with temperature. Increasing alkalinity a little more to 40-50mg/l will be good for corrosion it likely won’t for scaling. Whether or not the corrosion will ever be something you suffer for is another matter. Plenty of people have been using ashbeck and water of a similar spec to your RO long term without reporting issues.

If I were you I’d be increasing alkalinity and descaling the service boiler as I wouldn’t want to brew coffee with water that low in alkalinity, but if it doesn’t bother you there’s no reason to not carry on as you are. I’d check the water after a week and you can just calculate from there how much additional hardness and alkalinity you will get over x weeks assuming you tend to make the same number and type of drinks and just flush according to that rather than try to test and catch it exactly at the point you need to empty to boiler.

MWJB I can see you are very well informed re water quality and certainly a lot more than I am. Could I ask your opinion on using osmio zero with their cartridge supplied fitted. I appreciate it introduces some calcium carbonate (I believe) but apparently such a small amount that the water is still considered soft. Would this be ok to use or is any level of calcium or magnesium a big no no to espresso machines.

@Rob1 decided to test the water from Osmio as replaced the filters for the first time and used hard water filters. Came back quite low so unsure if should be adding something to water to increase alkalinity before feeding the boilers?

Osmio new filters /hard water filter/ with remineralisation cartridge

20ml sample 22 degrees
TDS reading - 14

GH - 2 drops 35.8 / 4 = 8.95
KH - 2 drops 35.8 / 4 = 8.95

prezes Are you sure those numbers are correct? With new mineralisation cartridge, I would expect the alkalinity of about 35mg/l to 45 mg/l. The GH look correct, though it can even be about 15/16 mg/l. These are my average during the last 20 months of use.

Perhaps, your hard water filter is the reason! How does the hard water filter work with Osmio Zero? What are your pure RO readings? Thx

prezes @LMSC

These were my readings on original
Filters with about 4 months use. That’s why I’m
Surprised. I think I’ll repeat the test

coffeealex I appreciate it introduces some calcium carbonate (I believe) but apparently such a small amount that the water is still considered soft. Would this be ok to use or is any level of calcium or magnesium a big no no to espresso machines.

I think @LMSC , @DavecUK and @dfk41 , and there may be others, have been using the Osmio with the remineralisation cartridge for a while now, so you could also ask them. 👍

prezes I’m guessing the remineralisation cartridge is spent as your water just reflects what you’d expect from straight RO water.