Waster hardness: Brita C150 and Profitec Pro 700

[andrewreid]

I got my new toy plumbed in today: my gorgeous new Profitec Pro 700 is being fed by a Brita C150, waste is running nicely into the dishwasher spigot.

The C150 head came pre-set at 30% bypass; I haven't got a water hardness test to add any science to my setting, but I am wondering what others suggest for Adelaide water.

Obviously, I don't want overdo it if I can avoid it, because (according to the tables that come with the filter) the amount you bypass (or not) has a direct impact on the life of your filter. At the same time, I don't want to feed the machine dodgy water.

Any hints?

[>JetBlack_Espresso]

Hey Andrew,

Test strips like these are a good way to estimate water hardness. Also, local water authorities should also be able to advise on water quality (TDS and hardness). You can test the hardness before and after the C150 to determine the best setting for bypass.

charlie

[andrewreid]

Cheers! Thanks Charlie.

[Nicho]

Would be very keen to see your results for hardness of Adelaide tap water V's the Brita C150 filtered water, be great if you could post up your results

[andrewreid]

This morning I've finally had an opportunity to measure the water hardness before and after the C150.

So, first of all, there's an important reason to do this: that bloody coffee machine on the bench wasn't cheap, and the Speaker of the House wouldn't be too impressed if its lifespan was reduced due to improper use :-) That aside, good quality water is obviously an important part of good quality coffee. So, not only is it important to capture the carbonates before they enter the boilers, it's also worthwhile setting up your filter so that it's not over-softening the water, as it will have a direct impact on filter life.

The head that I've got for the C150 has an adjustable bypass – you can crank it between 0–70%. Brita publish a table on their website which shows the filter life in litres, depending on the bypass setting. The head unit was delivered set at 30%, which, according to Brita, means a filter cartridge should give you 1159–1738 litres, depending on water hardness.



The test strip on the right shows the before-filter hardness; the strip on the left is after the filter when set at 60% bypass, as per Brita's recommendations.

... and for show-off value only, here's the setup:



Thanks to Charlie from JetBlack Espresso for his assistance. I'm loving life at the moment! :-)

[andrewreid]

I meant to add: changing the bypass to 60% increases filter life to 4569 litres. Well worth the effort!

[TC]

I meant to add: changing the bypass to 60% increases filter life to 4569 litres. Well worth the effort!

I'd suggest you have your water professionally tested before running anything like 60% bypass on Adelaide water. I don't place much faith in test strips.

[andrewreid]

Noted. What sort of person would perform such a test and what would you expect to pay?

[Dimal]

Noted. What sort of person would perform such a test and what would you expect to pay?

You could get a decent quality system from a local aquarium supplies retailer. Prices start probably from around $25 up to how ever much you want to spend...
Regardless, much more reliable than using test strips...

Mal.