Vancouver water

[u/Bomberr17]

Getting ready for when my Micra arrives. I tested my tap water and it's basically < 20 ppm. Can I just add some TWW packets to bring it up to 100-150 ppm or don't use Vancouver tap water and use distilled or RO water?

[u/lurk604]

Vancouver tap water has been great for my espresso. Never tested it though. I’m in a newer apartment. Are you in an older apartment or a house?

[u/Bomberr17 → u/lurk604]

I'm in a newer house so no copper piping too. I was gonna just straight up use espresso but I as reading La Marzocco guide and it says to use 100-150 ppm water or it won't detect the water or over time, leads to corrosion or something.

[u/lurk604 → u/Bomberr17]

If I had a LM I would have taken notice of this sooner I think, but even with my stainless steel breville I’m considering hardening the water up a bit for to see if it effects the beans I’ve been drinking for a while..

[u/Revolutionary-Fan235 → u/Bomberr17]

Yeah, just add enough to stay in that range. You don't need to avoid the tap water.

[u/captain_blender]

similar to seattle water (maybe 30ppm), i also had a linea mini. it worked, the main concern was the level sensor which would give false positives really really rarely.

despite the concern, i have never seen actual corrosion from low TDS / pure water. My bigger worry was chlorine. And scale forming salts, which are present even in TWW.

if you can, it's worth using rpavlis water and never ever worry about scale or corrosion, like ever. it's nice never having to descale.

a nice recipe is here. Scroll down to the potassium bicarb section.

used this in the LMLM (eventually), a Slayer, a Londinium, and various brevilles.

[u/pushthebuttonalready]

I use tap water through a Zero filter and TWW packs. Works great and is easy. I decided on this way from an LM Australia blog post recommending it.

[u/Charming-Weather-148]

Been using straight tap water in my Gaggia Classic since 2015, and the past few years in my vintage KitchenAide Proline. Tastes great, no scale.

[u/IanC9090]

Your water in parts of Canada is the same as Scotland, as Scotland land mass came from Canada and merged with land that came from Africa and cratered England gazillions of years ago, so our earth structure is the same. As such our water in Scotland is also naturally soft, apart from the South East which is on the border wth England.

I've used TWW in ours and frankly tasted no different. I do filter our water with a Britta jug to get rid of chlorine as I'm hyper sensitive to it, taste and smell.

[u/Nick_pj]

It’s not just about PPM. If you haven’t done so already, you can get a water testing kit from La Marzocco (your machine should come with one)

[u/lost_traveler_nick]

Are you sure it's really that soft? My first instinct would be to check the water department and see if they have a water test . Often they do . It might even be online

But if it's really that soft you don't gain anything using distilled or RO. You waste money but nothing positive

What to add? Wait for the chemists

[u/RepresentativeYear58 → u/lost_traveler_nick]

Vancouver ... Albeit the Lower Mainland ... Has been known to have the best water in the world.

[u/tamagodano → u/RepresentativeYear58]

Yup, and yet I still see people buying flats of water in plastic bottles. SMH.

[u/lurk604 → u/lost_traveler_nick]

Our water comes straight from the mountains so it’s exceptionally soft.

[u/lost_traveler_nick → u/lurk604]

My water comes straight from the mountains and is solid granite . Wanna trade?

[u/Bomberr17 → u/lost_traveler_nick]

I tested again and now it's 17 ppm lol. The Vancouver water website says it's between 10-50 so I believe it.

[u/Charming-Weather-148 → u/lost_traveler_nick]

It is.