Water - let it rest?

[Werner]

Hi,

I am renting at the moment and will relocate interstate in the not so far future. Hence I do not want to install a decent undersink water filter atm.
My VBM has got a resin filter inside the tank though, this has to suffice for the time being.

My question is: Should I use fresh water from the tap, or rather let the water sit inside the tank or a jug overnight or so before using it for brewing coffee?
I heard somewhere that this would give the chlorine time to evaporate?? :-?

Any truth to this?

Thanks!

Werner

[rmoulynox]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Chlorine isnt the issue - its water hardness that is the problem (ie dissolved Ca and Mg). Your best bet would be to get a water hardness tester from a sponsor (not very costly) and see if you even need one. My tank water is so soft I dont bother filtering. Other people have huge amounts of scale after a few months use.

One solution doesnt fit all unfortunately.

[richard_m_h]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Big W has a sale on the Brita jugs at the moment and they take away a lot of the chlorine. My parents are in the bush and their tap water is almost undrinkable from chlorine without the filter.

[trentski]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Just a reminder that the Brita filters wont remove scale after about the 2nd day.

Letting water sit will allow the chlorine to dissipate, sitting in the tank in the back of the espresso machine would be the place to do it

[Dimal]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Gday Werner....

Dont know if youve spotted this thread but theres some very useful information to be found in there... 8-)

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1300415170

Mal.

[Werner]

Re: Water - let it rest?

thanks everyone for contributing! Will have a read and a look.
One day I will invest in undersink filtration...but not quite yet.

Werner

[trentski]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Bombora have sink top filters that you can plug into your tap when you want to use them and then put it away between uses.

[Werner]

Re: Water - let it rest?

@trentski
interesting, couldnt find it on their site, unless it is the "shower" one.
Will give em a call!

...and test my water so I know what I am dealing with!

Thanks!

[pyro2b]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Carbon filters do a partial job removing free chlorine, but the problem is that most water treatment authorities are using Chloramine, which carbon is quite ineffective in removing. Under heat and pressure, the chloramine breaks down into chlorine and ammonia.

De-ionising resin works great but exhausts extremely quickly, quicker than most people realise. A 9 3/4" x 2 1/2" DI cartridge running straight tap water would only be totally effective for less than 600L of sydney tap water. The DI cartridges in most domestic coffee machine I would estimate only contain on tenth the amount of resin.

The most sure fire way of perfecting taste and stopping water scale is a purpose built reverse osmosis system.
http://whitehorsecoffee.com.au/2010/...verse-osmosis/

There are smaller domestic systems with reminieralisation which are the same as commercial ones except they are much lower volue units and the price is cheaper:
http://www.gpawholefoods.com.au/reve...tion-p-47.html

These systems can be temporarily set up in rental place also, usually in the laundry.

[trentski]

Re: Water - let it rest?

something like this
http://www.clean-machine.com.au/Countertop_with_Softening_Filter.html

can have a fitting that you either put over the end of the tap or depending on your tap set, screws into the thread on the end of the tap. You know the bit where they put that aerator fitting

[Werner]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Hi,

ah..ok. Interesting, will have to inquire...

I spoke to our chemist and she said that our Canberra water is soft, she expects the chlorine to be the bigger problem. For that a Brita jug should be all right, right?

[pyro2b]

Re: Water - let it rest?

US Govt standards for water give the following scientific definitions:
Soft: 0–60 mg/L
Moderately hard: 61–120 mg/L
Hard: 121–180 mg/L
Very hard: [ch8805]181 mg/L

So scientifically speaking Canberra does have what is classed as soft water.

According to ACT Govt water analysis figures Stromlo water supply is 40-50mg/L Calcium and Googong water supply is 50-80 mg/L.

If you do the Langelier Saturation Index calculations and factor in the environmental conditions that exist inside a coffee machine boiler, then anything above 50mg/L will cause scale. Anything below 35mg/L is safe.

FYI:

LSI = pH - ((9.3 + ((Log10 [TDS] - 1) / 10) + (-13.12 x Log10 (Deg C + 273) + 34.55)) - ((Log10 [Ca2+ as CaCO3] - 0.4) + (Log10 [alkalinity as CaCO3])))

Also since standard carbon filters do not remove dissolved solids, brita jugs wont fix the LSI

[Werner]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Thanks, seems like you know what you are talking about. Not always the case on the internet by any means

What does the resin filter inside the coffee machines tank filter out?

Thanks!

[pyro2b]

Re: Water - let it rest?

The DI resin inside coffee machines is designed to remove any aqueous free ions in solution, hence Deionising Resin. Ions form when any ionic soluble material dissociates in solution.

In a nut shell it is a crude way to supposedly prevent water scale, but depending on your system setup and you local water hardness it may only be good for as little as one full tank of water.

The coffee machine manufacturers are not in the water filtration industry, and are not selling water filters, they see it as a cheap bit of insurance and another way to get you to spend more money buying them. They will still sting you for insufficient descaling if water scale causes a problem, and most warranties exclude water scale damage.

[Dimal]

Re: Water - let it rest?

Well, around here "pyro2b"... :

We call on the knowledge of specialist water filter specialists Bombora, who are also one of our esteemed Site Sponsors, i.e. they help in keeping this great website up and running. We tend to recommend that anyone seeking specialist knowledge on the subject of water filtration in general and TDS control specifically, talk to Bernard and/or the crew at Bombora to ensure their needs are properly met.

I have yet to hear of an instance where they (Bombora) have ever steered anyone the wrong direction with regard to filtration and/or TDS control, and they also recommend regular monitoring of the TDS in the water downstream of the installed filters. This, coupled with regular inspections of the Boiler internals and HX circuit internals (if applicable), is the only real way to determine if the filter/treatment system being used is living up to its claims.

So far and after a few years, I have not been disappointed.... 8-)

Mal.