Rain water in coffee machines

[kesa32]

Hi , lve been lurking a short while now and am wondering how tank/rain water will go when l purchase a machine.
We have a pretty good filtration system in place for drinking water that is undersink , it consists of a 1 micron sediment filter , then goes through a uv chamber and then through a 1 micron coconut carbon filter.........will this surfice for a semi auto machine?

cheers ken

[Luke_G]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

I would imagine that it would better than unfiltered town water?

Maybe i should look at a rain water collection unit on the roof which drains striaght through a green tree frog filter then into my machine? lol

I think it was Mal or Kosmo that did a bit of experimenting with waters and filters..they might be able to shed a bit more light on the subject?

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Yes, it is pretty similar to my home set up from rain water tank.

But it wont address any issues with scale, as the minerals that result in producton of scale are in solution, therefore not a particle than can be filtered out by particle filters or the Uv light which gets parasites.

Mineral content of rain water that will eventually form scale inside your machine is well....an unknown.  I do know that my kettle, filled from my rain water system (as my coffee machine), shows absolutely no signs of scale, but.....

You should probably get an *indicator strip* from Bombora (see list of Spon-Sirs   to the left of this page, to test the water coming from your drinking fountain, as that will give you a realistic idea for your own water rather than relying on comments here where everyones water is different depending on their location.

Regardz,
Attilio
very first CS site sponsor.

[kesa32]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Thanks for the quick replies , yeah lll get some strips and test the water ( l presume these are for ph? )
Re scale , yeah the kettles here look fine scale wise so lm presuming it shouldnt be an issue  
Now to figure out which machine to go for ! ( thinking starting off 2nd hand from here with either a Lelit Combi/Lelit PL041 or Rancilio Silvia/Rocky ( WAF only allows for starting off with a limited budget  : )


cheers ken

[KJM]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Well Kesa32 - Ive had a Silvia on rain water since I got her in 2007 (or was it 2006?!?).. Ive got a choice between rainwater or dam water :

The rainwater has a pH of just under neutral, and has almost nil dissolved salts. I suspect Ill never actually need to descale the boiler, but will continue with my 3 year cycle of preventative maintenance anyway. Testing water can be done in lots of places, BTW. I suspect the scale creating chemicals never have much of a chance even if they are present since the water is very mildly acidic.

Go for it!

/Kevin

[kesa32]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Well Kesa32 - Ive had a Silvia on rain water since I got her in 2007 (or was it 2006?!?)..  Ive got a choice between rainwater or dam water  :

The rainwater has a pH of just under neutral, and has almost nil dissolved salts.  I suspect Ill never actually need to descale the boiler, but will continue with my 3 year cycle of preventative maintenance anyway.  Testing water can be done in lots of places, BTW.  I suspect the scale creating chemicals never have much of a chance even if they are present since the water is very mildly acidic.

Go for it!

/Kevin

Hi Kevin , yeah were the same here its either the tank or the dam  
As l mentioned above , the 2 SS kettles both look fine and have never needed to be cleaned .  
All l have to do now is sell my unused Mountain bike and l should have enough funds to get me going

cheers ken

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

ahh yeah......the dams.....Nope, Id rather buy water from the nearest town supply! Frankly I dont know how the animals drink it and dont get sick.

Regardz,
Attilio.

[Yelta]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Frankly I dont know how the animals drink it and dont get sick.

Plenty of Aussies in the outback survive on it without any problems Attilio, myself included (30 years) in fact Id go as far as to say our dam water was better than the Adelaide supply (I know that aint saying much) I have now moved to a more populated part of the continent and have a very expensive and limited reticulated supply, oh for the good old days.

[kesa32]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Our reticulated water in town tastes like crap ( chlorine and ammonia blend ) luckily we dont have access to it where we are

Looking forward to getting some brewing on the way in the new future , cant wait as lm not keen on instant stuff

Cheers ken

[Luke_G]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Looking forward to getting some brewing on the way in the new future , cant wait as lm not keen on instant stuff

Thats the spirit soldier!!!

I grew up on tank and bore water most of my life and i remember seeing some of the insides of the pipes through which it traveled....icky!

Anyway....on rural mains water now and using a water filter for safe measure...ill still descale once ever 24 month though as i use it a lot.

[kesa32]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

hmmmm , no luck selling the bike, might haver to go to evil bay with it
My other option is get a SB 6910 with 5 yr warranty and grinder locally intrest free and upgrade later ( warranty covers wear and tear also ) plus itd be high waf use wise ...we all drink lattes etc here ( though that might change with decent coffee )

cheers ken

[KJM]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

Well - been away for a week so Ive missed contributing to this thread 8-)

I have a daughter with a 6910 and they do work fine. But the resale value of it is pretty low (compared with the new price). If youre targetting a limited ownership of the 6910 - it might be worth thinking about something like an AeroPress and saving the money for the target machine. Just a thought! If you like lattés, you can always heat the milk in the microwave and use one of those frothing gadgets to pretend and convince people that moving expenditure forward is a worthwhile thing to do :

The AP produces a perfectly fine cup - different from an espresso, but basically fine. I would not do without my Silvia, of course, but the AP is an acceptable in-lieu substitute when needs must!

/Kevin

[kesa32]

Re: Rain water in coffee machines

l guess the only reason lm considering the 6910 is intrest free , plus they do a good deal for that and the grinder ( free ) also the warranty for 5 years covering wear and tear as well as replacement etc......none of the other warrrantys around here covered wear and tear issues ..plus the warranty is fully transferable to who ever buys it later.
yeah the AP route is another option too ...lll think for awhile and see what else pops up here


cheers ken