Plumbing in filters (non RO)

M5Sime

Hi - I read some threads on water and found a lot of science and plenty of bottled water use. I have been using Volvic for years. My new Vostok lever can be plumbed and was researching professional grade water filters such as BWT. Has anyone looked into the various brands of filters and are they effective? I keep thinking - most commercial coffee made is I assume using filtered rather than RO mains water (maybe some nice RO setups)?

dfk41

M5Sime For myself, then I did not plumb in my Evo. I believe the new rotary pumped ones are pretty silent. The whole point of regulating the water going in, is that it is much easier to do that than have the hassles associated with a descale. Therefore I went with a desktop RO system. Initially using the Osmio Zero then after several years use switching to a Waterdrop K19 RO system

Adrianmsmith

Im still using the same sysyem i had when i had the synchronika then the evo one and vesuvius and now the Evo 2.

I cant imagine ever having a machine like this and filling a tank and emptying a drip tray

I know this opinion is not popular on here!

How many of you have a washing machine and fill it with buckets and empty it be the same 🫣🤔🤡

That would be the same situation!

Mine took a morning to plumb in a few of years ago and ten minutes per year to change the filter .

Im then free to brew freely and clean portafilter etc without thinking about filling it or emptying the tray.

In a morning mt wife drinks tea 🤮 but its all made from the evo including water to geat the mugs

Every fee days ( honest) i remove and clean the tray and the tank. Tank stays clean tbh. I let it run with approx 50mm of water in it. At hat level it tops up regularly with no interruption to operation

I barely hear the solenoid operate .

This comes up often on the forum

Often im told im wrong.

Something were never going to agree on.

System i installed was pentair ever pure head and use their claris ultra cartridges

Feed is regulated to approx 2.5 bars. Not strictly required with acs evo or vostok but a no brainer to decide to use.

Isolation valve to allow filter to be changed

I turn it off out of habit if we go away more than a day or so

I use a brita flow meter because it was cheap on ebay than the everpure!

A few links below if anyone is interested .

I will never understand the general reluctance to complete the installation if this type if machine. Sorry i keep bringing this up but its mind numbing. 🤪🤗

https://filterflair.co.uk/products/everpure-claris-filter-head-male-thread

https://filterflair.co.uk/products/everpure-claris-ultra-170

https://filterflair.co.uk/products/brita-purity-c-digital-flow-meter

https://www.screwfix.com/p/honeywell-home-braukmann-pressure-reducing-valve-1-5-6bar-15mm-x-15mm/7978j

dfk41

Adrianmsmith what do you store in the cupboard that houses the system then?

M5Sime

Adrianmsmith thank you for such a detailed reply! It was your comment on the Vostok thread that made me think. I was looking at cartridge makers and trying to see any online tests of effectiveness etc - eg BWT from Germany. I saw cartridge jug filter reviews and didn’t seem to be consistently impressive

Adrianmsmith

dfk41 what do you store in the cupboard that houses the system then?

The system isnt housed in the cupboards?

Its in the plinth space below the cupboard. many uk kitchens actually waste this space or use it to house mice etc 🤪🫣🤓

theres a lot of wasted space in modern kitchens. A “cavity” behind the cupboards ideal for feed and waste pipes to run and a large space below the cupboards with easy access by removing the plinths which in general are held in place by spring clips attaching to the cupboard feel.

Anyway, no loss of any cupboard space……

Adrianmsmith

M5Sime

I couldn’t find much info.

Betta Barista recommended BWT as they sold them.

Rinaldos recommended the everpure and as i got it along with the synchronika from them at a very good price i went with it.

Being Honest i would assume theres little to pick between them of the similar system from Brita .

Ive had replacement filters from rinaldos, filter flair, redber and Lockhart . plenty of choice.

Its the only sysyem I’ve tried so cant compare im afraid

Adrianmsmith

M5Sime

One thing worth being aware of.

Theres a difference plumbing in the ACS Vesuvius, evo or Vostok (or Decent for that matter) and something like a synchronika.

With a synchronika the tank is not used . the mains being connected to the solenoid that directly feeds the internal sysyem. The regulator is a must to protect the internal systems.

With the ACS theres no difference to the internal system, plumbed or not . the solenoid simply tops up the tank. Water is drawn from the tank the same , plumbed or not.

The suction from the tank has to be in the bottom of the tank and the level probe set approx 50mm from the bottom. No point having a lot of water in there. The most thats drawn in at any one time is when we fill a mug for tea, americano or warming a travel mug etc. basically a mug full!!

I still use the regulator so the flow in to the tank is not aggressive and splashing. Haven’t checked how bad it is at full line pressure. Dont want to!!!

Its advised to remove and clean the tank periodically. 5 minute job.

I dont do it very often but have had no deposits, slime or smells when i do so.

InfamousTuba

I do completely agree that a plumbed system is much better, we have an eagle one prima and whenever we take it somewhere and we don’t have it plumbed in it is just so much worse to use. As far as systems go it does also depend on how hard your water is, soft water is much easier to filter without more advanced systems.

We have a BWT system but that is because we already had the setup for it and the under counter space is not an issue

Adrianmsmith

InfamousTuba

Ive not read up on the BWT but the claris has a bypass setting you set when changing the cartridge, which is set depending on how hard your water is . This also determines the recommended life of the filter in an enclosed leaflet.

I usually change at 12 months well befor the volume life has been reached .

I think both systems and the Brita are all well respected systems.

Does the BWT need to be mounted vertically?

InfamousTuba

BWT has bypass as well but they also have different base filters for hard water and for very soft water (bestmax or bestmin) so they are quite flexible. The smallest capacity is 750L before it needs changed

They can be mounted horizontally as well but I always see them mounted vertically everywhere

M5Sime

I asked one of my ‘reference quality’ coffee shops on their setup and they have an RO system.. I recall looking at this before and concluded it was all very complicated - but the commercial systems seem ok. Not keen they dump 70% of the water to make the useful water (a stat I saw on one system).

dfk41

Coffee shops often use commercial filter systems, but I bet unless it is RO based they still get an annual service that includes a descale. I used to run a Bestmax filter and yes, it made life easy but the Mark One Evo does not have drain taps on the boilers so it was cheaper and easier for me (despite Adrians enthusing!) to guarantee no scale with RO than run the risk of scale build up with a non RO filter system. Ask yourself what your main constraint is and deal with it. If you main constraint is to not have the onerous task of filling your coffee machine then go for a filter system. If your main constraint is to guarantee no scale go for RO. What is the water quality like in your area as a starting point?

Adrianmsmith

dfk41

You will be pleased to know, I agree 😎

Also, yes, im putting a lot of faith in that filter.

Out water is not as bad as some from the tap and have never had any scale in the kettle. All we feed that with is a brita maxtra cartridge jug. Cartridge is changed when its been flashing a while but realistically 11 cartridges a year.

Not very scientific, but, given the state of the kettle and the fact the claris ultra is of far better quality than the maxtra, im relatively happy im safe.

This was the state of the hot water offtake from the steam boiler a few weeks back. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

M5Sime

I found a Thames Water detailed breakdown for my water that I need to verify. We don’t drink it ever today. Sparking mineral water and Volvic for coffee and rare tea. Much nicer to taste. I’m going to get some test strips and a TDS meter and do some research myself.

Thames water says

InfamousTuba

M5Sime I found a Thames Water detailed breakdown for my water that I need to verify. We don’t drink it ever today. Sparking mineral water and Volvic for coffee and rare tea. Much nicer to taste. I’m going to get some test strips and a TDS meter and do some research myself.

Thames water says

I would go straight to RO, your hardness will be very high.

Commercially we don’t descale any of our machines because the filters are changed regularly and the water is tested by our engineers. It is also a benefit of living in a city with very soft water, the filters don’t need to do as much work

M5Sime

Thank you. 🙏