Having one standard set of terms for measuring water quality is an issue. The local municipalities, tropical fish folks, espresso water people and scientists all seem to want to choose a standard they are comfortable with and not a world wide standard.
I have however seen ppm used most frequently when referring to solids.
I feel it is all a mystery since in my chosen field of electricity/electronics I can find at least 3 different terms for 1 switch. The same goes for framing members in a home's construction. Different terms for the same item. I personally think it is a form of job security...
Unfiltered tap water (at my girl friend's place, a few streets away from my home) changes color at 16 drops, so assuming her water quality is idential to mine, my filter needs to be regenerated.
The Brita filter jug does a great job: changes color at 6 drops, so 3 ºdH
After regenerating the filter with 2kg of salt, the dH is up from 7 to 8. I may have to get another test set because that would be a little weird, filtered water being harder than unfiltered. I'll order the set offered by Reiss.
Hi, I used the COM-100 tds meter on the water that came out of my L1 and took two readings that seemed to makes sense for what "we" do and was just wondering if I might need to do more to soften my water.
The readings I took are as follows: NaCL ppm 79
and
KCL ppm 98
If I'm not mistaken, I prob need to soften my water a bit more, but I'm a little unsure of what the "ideal" values in numbers I need to get via the COM-100
Somewhere in this Thread, I think this one Post #776, Reiss stated a TDS number he thought desirable for flavor.
I put an adjustable softener cartridge system on my water, a Mavea with an adjustable bypass, and got some pretty low numbers and Reiss thought I should by pass some water to bring the solids up to make the taste less bright. He was correct and the coffee tastes better since I adjusted it.
We have fairly soft water to begin with but it still produced scale so I wanted to minimize it.
The filter installed on the line after the dva water softener and it feeds the pipe that goes to the L1. I also added a small splitter and installed a water tap on the kitchen sink so I can use the soft water for the iron and other stuff.
The dva softener is used here almost in any commercial equipment and Iif it's good enough for a small coffee shop than it's good enough for my small machine ;-) The water is just for the machine, I only drink mineral bottled water so for my 2-3 espressos it works great.
My previous machine did not have any scale buildup (not even a bit) after 2.5 years using the same setup and we have a very hard water here, it's the best softening solution I ever used.
Kfir.
I purchased the above water softer and it seems that this is another whole craft to soften water!
In any case, I'm hoping Kfir or someone can tell me what kind of salt I should use, further the chart that comes with the softener is a bit greek to me - no offense to the greek customers- I'm a bit confused on how much salt to use as well! Any guidance would be awesome!
For home use a refreshing is needed no more than 3 times a year with the 8 liter unit. You can use regular salt (not fine table salt) for refreshing. If you have an 8 liter unit like mine then you will need to use a kilo of salt each time.
I have found a good video on youtube, hope it helps:
BTW when refreshing I don't wait exactly 45 minutes and I prefer to taste the water until the salty taste is gone. It usually takes between 30 and 40 minutes.
I'm telling you Stephen, I have to think every time I hear about grams, mL, mm hex wrenches to change out portafilter handles, and being a espresso hobbyist it's something I have to acknowledge for the first time in my American life, perhaps it's a good thing though.
Comments
I have however seen ppm used most frequently when referring to solids.
I feel it is all a mystery since in my chosen field of electricity/electronics I can find at least 3 different terms for 1 switch. The same goes for framing members in a home's construction. Different terms for the same item. I personally think it is a form of job security...
This tells me my filtered water may be a little harder than the target value but not too much.
I will test the unfiltered tap water and see what the filter does now.
The Brita filter jug does a great job: changes color at 6 drops, so 3 ºdH
That's 53.5 ppm according to http://www.cactus2000.de/uk/unit/masswas.shtml
Hi, I used the COM-100 tds meter on the water that came out of my L1 and took two readings that seemed to makes sense for what "we" do
The readings I took are as follows:
NaCL ppm 79
and
KCL ppm 98
If I'm not mistaken, I prob need to soften my water a bit more, but I'm a little unsure of what the "ideal" values in numbers I need to get via the COM-100
Thanks!
`joe
I put an adjustable softener cartridge system on my water, a Mavea with an adjustable bypass, and got some pretty low numbers and Reiss thought I should by pass some water to bring the solids up to make the taste less bright. He was correct and the coffee tastes better since I adjusted it.
We have fairly soft water to begin with but it still produced scale so I wanted to minimize it.
I purchased the above water softer and it seems that this is another whole craft to soften water!
In any case, I'm hoping Kfir or someone can tell me what kind of salt I should use, further the chart that comes with the softener is a bit greek to me - no offense to the greek customers- I'm a bit confused on how much salt to use as well! Any guidance would be awesome!
You can use regular salt (not fine table salt) for refreshing.
If you have an 8 liter unit like mine then you will need to use a kilo of salt each time.
I have found a good video on youtube, hope it helps:
If you have anymore questions please ask.
Kfir.
Thanks so much for the help, don't know why I didn't think to go to YouTube since I use it for practically everything- thanks!
~Joe
BTW when refreshing I don't wait exactly 45 minutes and I prefer to taste the water until the salty taste is gone.
It usually takes between 30 and 40 minutes.
Kfir.
Ahh! I just wish this country could join the world standards for stuff like this, but there you go and fittings are ordered from espressoparts.com
Well just posting this to let everyone in the USA know that they need BSP fittings to make this product work.
"World Standard"? I almost fell off my chair laughing :-)
Keep up the good fight, and in the meantime rely on Espresso Parts for all those pricey brass fittings.
Stephen
Cheers!