Question for zero water filter users: I’m thinking of buying one of those giving the cost of electricity going up and distilling becoming rather expensive. My usage is low, approx. 2 litres a week. My water is hard so I’m trying to maximise the effectiveness and life of the filter.

If I were to draw the whole jug of water every week, would you keep the jug empty in between or keep it always full? If always full, would I then be using water that’s always at least a week old and sitting in the jug?

    MediumRoastSteam I’d keep it empty - in fact, I’d unscrew the filter, shake it as dry as possible and pack it in cling film and store it in the fridge, if you plan to use it only once a week.

    It takes about 15 minutes to filter 2 litres of water, so it’s no problem to have it ‘empty’ (BTW, the water will then sit for ‘up to a week’ in your coffee machine, but that is clearly not a problem either, since you seem to be doing that with distilled water today).

    Life of the filter is - I understand - totally dependent on water hardness; each filter contains ion-stripping resins for 18,000 mg/CaCO3 equivalent. This may sound a lot, but with water in “our” areas in the South-East we are looking at 40-60 litres/filter.

        CoyoteOldMan - thank you. I was aiming for 30L as life expectancy, so that’s within the acceptable parameters.

        If I do what you suggest… is the filter like a Britta one where you have to soak and “prime it” before you use it or can you just filter it through straight away?

            MediumRoastSteam is the filter like a Britta one where you have to soak and “prime it” before you use it or can you just filter it through straight away?

            No priming necessary. When we went away for 3 weeks last month I wrapped the filter in cling film and put it in the fridge - no smells or filtering issues on return, and I had a litre of water to put in the machine in less than 10 minutes.

            LMSC Would one drink straight out of the zero jug?

            As far as I know, one can - it’s de-ionised just like it would be out of a distiller or a good RO filter. I drank a couple of glasses without any after-effects, but I find that (just like melted snow or distilled water for ironing) it doesn’t relieve my thirst or taste nice: it feels ‘hollow’.

                  CoyoteOldMan - this is so true. I tried once to make a V60 with distilled water with 100mg sodium bicarbonate per Litre. It tasted exactly like that: hollow, flat.

                  Interestingly, as espresso, it tastes fine. Go figure.

                    In contrast, I asked this very question to Zerowater and they advised the filters work better and last longer when kept in water. I tend to fill the jug and leave it in a fridge until I need it.

                    I live in a very hard water area (typically plus 400 tds on the reader) and I’ve always got between 30 - 35 litres from each filter.

                    I add 64mg of sodium bicarbonate per litre to the water to bring up the alkalinity and tend to make up 2 × 5 litre batches in a go, stored in old Ashbeck bottles

                    I use 250 to 500ml per day (with the occasional 2 litre fill of my Bianca) and just replace what I use, so it’s always got about 250ml it. No idea if that’s OK but haven’t noticed any issues.

                    Regret buying the really big one (20 cup) because having a jug I could pour from directly would make life much easier. Quite happy with zero water in general though, my usage is too low to warrant a RO system really…

                    CoyoteOldMan BTW, the water will then sit for ‘up to a week’ in your coffee machine, but that is clearly not a problem either, since you seem to be doing that with distilled water today).

                    I sometimes wonder about this - part of me thinks that because I distil the water, it not only removes all the minerals, but it also kills everything organic in the process - unlike with the ZeroWater filters. In fact, I distil fortnightly and store the water in 2× 2 litre glass bottles. I have no problems with smell in the water or anything like that. I’ve been doing this for over two years, and I’m still here! 👍

                        MediumRoastSteam Fair point - however, other than in the water tank, everything else in a coffee machine also gets heated to near-boiling point (or well over it) before ending in our cups…

                        Anecdotally, after 4 months of Zerowater use, the only smell I have perceived is when the filter runs out, then it starts smelling (not strongly, but clearly perceivable - acrid, sharp; not sure if it is by design or just chemical chance). The water tank in both machines is clean and has no smell whatsoever - so far, I rinse them every 2 weeks or so, largely when I remember!

                        I (like you) think distillation is safer, from a microbiological point of view. However, it seems to me that the risk of a room-temperature filter (be it ion-stripping, RO or anything else) is easily manageable. Eating the ‘decorative’ lettuce leaf from a restaurant has a much higher chance of something going wrong (don’t ask me how I know…)

                            CoyoteOldMan Eating the ‘decorative’ lettuce leaf from a restaurant has a much higher chance of something going wrong (don’t ask me how I know…)

                            Ha! I was not worried about the water at all, just an observation really after over two years of distilling. I’m with you on the water once delivered to the group via the boilers - I was mainly pointing out the distilled water kept in a glass bottle and then in the tank of the coffee machine for a week at a time. No smell or anything at all. I wash the tank every two months or so!

                            As a side note, born and grown up in Brazil, I’m most likely immune to all of those European concerns from birth! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 - Decorative lettuce? Bring it on! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 👍👍👍👍

                              I’ve been using the 12-cup version since November & beginning to think the filter is immortal as I’m still on the original! No aroma & TDS still reading 0.
                              I usually make up a 8L batch of brewing water from it, which will last about a week & takes about 3 & a bit jugs worth. In between batches I’ll leave enough water in the jug to keep the bottom of the filter submerged.
                              If I’m going to be away for longer; I’ll wrap the bottom of the filter in clingfilm, held with an elastic band & fill the filter to the top. When I get back I’ll drain that off, run a little water through the filter to flush it & feed that to the plants.
                              The ZeroWater website usually does weekly filter/jug bundle offers. This week it’s the 12-cup jug & 3 filters for £55.
                              The only faff can be that sometimes you get airlocks in the filter, which stops the water going through so you have to tap the jug counter to set the bubbles free.

                                MediumRoastSteam It was a cross between me not wanting to leave a full jug of filtered water sitting there for a week & reading something on the ZeroWater website (which I now can’t find) that I should keep some water in the jug. Why? Well I’m not sure. Maybe it’s to prevent the filter drying out.
                                So I thought that way was the best compromise but have no idea whether it’s any better or worse but it doesn’t seem to have been detrimental to the filter

                                  I have an 8 litre Kilner jar. It came with a plastic tap, but I quickly replaced that with a stainless steel version. I drop the Zero filter in the top and use the plastic jug to fill it up then I remineralise with 0.7g of sodium bicarbonate and 1.8g of epsom salt. Makes water at about 130 TDS. Tastes great. I thought about replacing it with a more complete system like the Osmio, but in the end this is very easy and not that expensive.

                                  10 days later

                                  @CoyoteOldMan I do not know if you make pour overs. If you do, do you use the water from the Zero Water jug? MediumRoastSteam says the coffee from V60 tasted hallow and flat (distilled + bicarb).

                                  The reason I ask is my daughter has already taken my pour over kits - V60, Aero Press, accessories and gooseneck kettle. It’s London hard water. I was thinking if I it is worth sending her a zerowater jug. She isn’t some one who will go to local store and drag a 5L water bottle! 😊

                                      LMSC Sorry - no pourovers… unless you count Turkish as such? In which case, I can confirm that to my palate it tastes much better when there is some hardness in the water; I tried “pure” deionised out of the Zero jug and with bicarb, and while both were drinkable, adding some magnesium or calcium salts improved the flavour quite a bit.

                                      Descaling a kettle is a whole lot easier than descaling an espresso machine, but there is no doubt that the water we have around here is very hard.

                                      • LMSC replied to this.

                                          LMSC MediumRoastSteam says the coffee from V60 tasted hallow and flat (distilled + bicarb).

                                          It was definitely not hallow. I used distilled water, not holy water! 🤣

                                          (sorry I couldn’t resist). 😂👍

                                          On a serious, note… It was hollow, flat for sure. I couldn’t drink a cup of it. I certainly did not enjoy. I’d be curious to taste what a V60 from a Zero Water jug would taste like in comparison.

                                              CoyoteOldMan I do make pour overs regularly but use the mineralised RO. I find it fine. I did find a massive difference in tea with / without hard water. The tea from mineralised RO is lighter and taste a lot better. I always found the tea with hard water even with a drop of milk was harsher in taste.

                                              Agree, easier to descale the kettle. I will defer it until/if she comes back. The risk of she asking for a hand grinder for pour overs will be more than the water filter! I think I should better look for an electric grinder for myself before my hand grinder disappears! Anyway, that’s another thread. 😂

                                                  MediumRoastSteam holy water!

                                                  The holy water can whip people’s passion in some country! I will leave it to your imagination and I will 🤐🤐🤣🤣

                                                  MediumRoastSteam I’d be curious to taste what a V60 from a Zero Water jug would taste like in comparison.

                                                  Yeah! exactly. Some time, some where perhaps! I only have the OZ.