Water purification

[Halo]

In the interest of having nice clean and better tasting coffee (and water in general) weve got a couple of Brita filter jugs to filter out the nasties. Having tasted the water from a friends rain water tank, though, has made me realise that our water still tastes pretty bad.

We used to have an electrical water purifier that worked by pouring water into the machine and boiling it. The condensed steam would then dribble down into the awaiting jug giving you perfectly clean (if hot) water.

Does anyone know if they still make these machines?

What does everyone else use for water? or use to purify/filter their water?

[JavaB]

Re: Water purification

Hi Halo...

Im sure these distillers can still be obtained but-

The experts will tell you that some hardness is required in the water for the coffee to taste "good".... if there isnt a level of hardness it will taste flat and uninteresting..... Havent tried distilled water myself... but if you do a search you will find that quoted many a time.

Secondly, although clearly not a problem with a plunger, you must have dissolved salts in the water which feeds coffee machines with level sensors. The sensor works by passing current through the water and this will only work if there are dissolved salts in the water..... Put distilled (or water from a reverse osmosis filtering system) into a machine like that and it will continue to fill until the pressure relief operates - and sprays water everywhere...

In America where reverse osmosis is popular, salts are reintroduced to enhance the taste of the coffee and to protect the coffee machine.....

A good filter should remove the nasty smells and tastes without the need for distillation or reverse osmosis.... and then having to reintroduce impurities...

[Halo]

Re: Water purification

Wow! Thanks for that writeup.

The distilled water would be purely for drinking purposes, I just assumed that coffee made from the same water would taste better from the lack of chlorine etc. but apparently that thought is wrong

Hmmm, bottled water for coffee (thinking of coffee machines) is probably going a bit too far for my liking. I read about taste and odour filters while searching the forum. Maybe thats the way to go?

[Wushoes]

Re: Water purification

Before the water from out reverse osmosis system reaches our machines, calcium needs to be reintroduced. You should see the muck that comes from the RO. Brown dirty water....and to think we drink this everyday! *bleugh*

RO has its limitations, especially in high volume places like HQ @ Flinders with 2 La Marzocco FB/80s running 2 seperate RO units, the RO units cant keep up with the demand.

[Halo]

Re: Water purification

The distillers I looked at come with bottles of trace element to add to the water.

Id never *really* noticed the taste of the filtered tap water (Brita) until drinking rain water for a while. Now I cant drink our water without it leaving an aftertaste.

[fierysport]

Re: Water purification

We have a built in filter that removes most of the impurities but its not a de-ioniser. Costs about $200 per year for the replacement filter. Works well IMHO. We have a separate tap on the sink to dispense the water.

[Thundergod]

Re: Water purification

Rain water doesnt necessarily taste better than Brita filtered water.
Depends on how its caught and stored before you drink it.
Also, my Sydney water may taste a bit better before Brita filtering than your Qld water, depends on the supply and treatment before it reaches your tap.

[Bill]

Re: Water purification

Check out "Jim Schulmans Insanely Long Water FAQ" at http://www.big-rick.com/coffee/waterfaq.html as it gives you all the info you need. Probably too much info actually. But in-a-nutshell he says the best water to use should have a hardness of around 90 mg/l and alkalinity of around 50 mg/l. How you acheve that though, well thats another matter....


regards,
Bill

[Daveze]

Re: Water purification

Before the water from out reverse osmosis system reaches our machines, calcium needs to be reintroduced. You should see the muck that comes from the RO. Brown dirty water....and to think we drink this everyday! *bleugh*

RO has its limitations, especially in high volume places like HQ @ Flinders with 2 La Marzocco FB/80s running 2 seperate RO units, the RO units cant keep up with the demand.

If youre getting brown water from your RO permeate (the good water), then your RO is not working properly. And if youre not getting enough water from 2 units, perhaps you need 3?

Do you add calcium in a salt form? Have you considered blending your RO feed with the permeate? This seems somewhat counter-intuitive but will be much cheaper on chemical addition, produce a greater quantity of water and probably achieve a similar water quality, particularly if youre pre-treating with a reasonable Activated Carbon filter...