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Tap water / filtered water

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  • 23-06-2020 7:38pm
    #1
    Tabby McTat
    Registered Users Posts: 255 ✭✭


    I see that filtered water is recommended for making a brew rather than tap water. Does anyone know if it makes much of a difference? Or are we talking about marginal improvements...


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    #2
    Bluefoam
    Registered Users Posts: 7,717 ✭✭✭Bluefoam


    Dublin tap water is soft and considered some of the best for espresso, no need for bottled... Not sure whether that is true of French Press or Filter...


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    #3
    Tabby McTat
    Registered Users Posts: 255 ✭✭Tabby McTat


    Bluefoam wrote: »
    Dublin tap water is soft and considered some of the best for espresso, no need for bottled... Not sure whether that is true of French Press or Filter...

    Good to know. Nice one!


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    #4
    Mr Magnolia
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,429 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr Magnolia


    If lime doesn't build up on your kettle and your water tastes fine at room temperatueebthen you're grand.


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    #5
    Squidgy Black
    Registered Users Posts: 21,607 ✭✭✭✭Squidgy Black


    I use a BWT jug with filters but only because we get our water from the Leixlip plant and I've used a couple of those test kits and our water's a wee bit hard (small bit of scale on kettles etc), so mostly just to convince myself that I don't need to do a full descale or the espresso machine that often.

    Taste is pretty negligible to be honest. James Hoffman and a few others say that water plays a huge part in terms of brews, but I'm not sure if that's just because a lot of England etc have extremely hard water supplies compared to here.


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    #6
    Bigbooty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 229 ✭✭Bigbooty


    I use a Britta filter as the water isn't suitable for filter in Dublin. It tastes a bit gross coming from the tap which I do feel makes a difference.. I've heard of people adding minerals to water too which Is probably a step too far for me.


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    #7
    Gooey Looey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭Gooey Looey


    We had a boil notice here years ago and used get a smell of chemicals in the water for a time after so we started using a Britta filter which I've continued with for coffee. I find the cheap Amazon filters produce nicer water than the expensive Britta Maxtra ones but our water is pretty good now and not hard.


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    #8
    Hodors Appletart
    Registered Users Posts: 2,025 ✭✭✭Hodors Appletart


    Bluefoam wrote: »
    Dublin tap water is soft and considered some of the best for espresso, no need for bottled... Not sure whether that is true of French Press or Filter...
    barrac wrote: »
    Good to know. Nice one!

    it depends on where in dublin you are, there are at least three different supply lines into DCC and the water profiles are different in each


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    #9
    Tabby McTat
    Registered Users Posts: 255 ✭✭Tabby McTat


    Hodors Appletart wrote: »
    it depends on where in dublin you are, there are at least three different supply lines into DCC and the water profiles are different in each

    Drumcondra.


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    #10
    Hodors Appletart
    Registered Users Posts: 2,025 ✭✭✭Hodors Appletart


    barrac wrote: »
    Drumcondra.

    you are probably on the same supply as me then, which has always been full of bicarbonates, and chlorine.


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    #11
    limnam
    Registered Users Posts: 9,152 ✭✭✭limnam


    barrac wrote: »
    I see that filtered water is recommended for making a brew rather than tap water. Does anyone know if it makes much of a difference? Or are we talking about marginal improvements...


    Depends where you're living and what your water is like.


    It's not just about taste.


    If the water is very bad it can cause build up in machines too which means you'll have to clean them much more often


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    #12
    adrian522
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 16,095 Mod ✭✭✭✭adrian522


    You can check on Irish water:

    https://www.water.ie/water-supply/water-quality/water-hardness/

    Enter your Eircode.

    For me it gives 68 mg/l of Calcium which it says is soft. It says anything below 100mg is soft.

    The WHO however has a different definition:
    Water containing calcium carbonate at concentrations below 60 mg/l is generally considered as soft; 60–120 mg/l, moderately hard; 120–180 mg/l, hard; and more than 180 mg/l, very hard (McGowan, 2000).

    I use a Britta filter for my coffee, not sure how much difference it makes but I haven't had any issues with the espresso machine since I started doing this, where I was having issues previously. I have a machine that is pretty difficult to descale so this is worth it for me.


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    #13
    Bluefoam
    Registered Users Posts: 7,717 ✭✭✭Bluefoam


    adrian522 wrote: »
    You can check on Irish water:

    https://www.water.ie/water-supply/water-quality/water-hardness/

    Enter your Eircode.

    For me it gives 68 mg/l of Calcium which it says is soft. It says anything below 100mg is soft.

    The WHO however has a different definition:



    I use a Britta filter for my coffee, not sure how much difference it makes but I haven't had any issues with the espresso machine since I started doing this, where I was having issues previously. I have a machine that is pretty difficult to descale so this is worth it for me.

    No informformation available for my area...


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    #14
    limnam
    Registered Users Posts: 9,152 ✭✭✭limnam


    Shows 73 for me.


    I mostly use bottled water but I hadn't checked this previously


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    #15
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    we're on the navan road, i find the water very hard- goes through kettles, shower head, has a shiny buildup on tea, leaves hair/skin oily

    filter everything we drink/cook with these days and it makes a big difference to taste, cleans that film off the surface of the tea nicely, etc


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    #16
    Hodors Appletart
    Registered Users Posts: 2,025 ✭✭✭Hodors Appletart


    those readings from the website are not to be taken as absolutes

    they are a snapshot of a sample

    what is especially noticeable is the amount of chlorine, after a spate of bad weather the chlorine gets ramped up for example.


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    #17
    adrian522
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 16,095 Mod ✭✭✭✭adrian522


    Hodors Appletart wrote: »
    those readings from the website are not to be taken as absolutes

    they are a snapshot of a sample

    what is especially noticeable is the amount of chlorine, after a spate of bad weather the chlorine gets ramped up for example.

    There are many samples though not just one. You can check all sorts of things, not just hardness.

    https://www.water.ie/water-supply/water-quality/

    For chlorine I can see 126 tests this year and of those 5 had a reading of above recommended levels.


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