# Troubled Water



## Cofv (Jan 17, 2016)

Hello!

Im working in a restaurant just outside of London where the water out of the tap reads at 354ppm ... Yuk!

So we've gone all out on a dogs doodars water filter system. We have a reverse osmosis system which gets the water down to 7ppm. Since this is no good for anything (tea, coffee or even drinking really), and we didn't want to open the blending valve more since we the only thing that will do is increase the ppm with the rubbish that's already in the water. We wanted to add what we wanted back in the water ... What's good for the coffee! So we have added a dosatron and are using that to put a solution simply called 'espresso solution' back into the water. I'm trying to achieve around 100 ppm but having trouble nailing it.

I'm aware this is definitely not your normal set-up but if anyone has any experience with using a dosatron or adding minerals back into the water please let me know how you got on and how I can best achieve good results!


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Even 100 ppm is often considered too low.

Have you read Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood's book Water for Coffee ?

What is the main brewing method?


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## Cofv (Jan 17, 2016)

I haven't but investing now! I've simply based my figures on suggestions from others since I would by no means call myself an expert. It's a big learning process for me. What ppm would you recommend? We are brewing both espresso and pour over. So this water then goes either up to our la marzocco linea pb for espresso or through a macro for the pour over. It typically picks up about 10ppm through that process so ends up about 110ppm.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

I've brewed between 85 ppm and 130

The coffee tastes very different at each end of the spectrum

With RO you will be able to change to suit the bean.

Espresso - it all depends on the setup (pressure / temp / grind etc)


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## Cofv (Jan 17, 2016)

Glenn said:


> I've brewed between 85 ppm and 130
> 
> The coffee tastes very different at each end of the spectrum
> 
> ...


We're using an EK 43 to achieve the most even particle size possible when grinding so our changes can be accurately measured. I have played around with the pressure too. Have tried everything between 6 and 9 bar. Finding by hat with the EK we benefit from a longer extraction with lower pressure. Also with the RO we are using that to basically take the water down to as low as possible. The reason for using a dosatron is to add the desired minerals back into the water ... Essentially creating the water which from what I've seen is what maxwell is suggesting. Just having trouble reaching a high enough tds with this system now. Thank you for the suggestion of that book! I've got one on the way now.


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## Xpenno (Nov 12, 2012)

Hey cofv, what exactly is espresso solution? 100ppm of something that doesn't aid the extraction of coffee isn't going to help you so it might be worth starting there. My blog has some posts about making water for coffee which might be of interest.


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## Xpenno (Nov 12, 2012)

There are a bunch of posts on here as well if you search around.


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## Cofv (Jan 17, 2016)

Yeah I've been browsing round today ... It's been very enlightening. It's a solution which was brought in to me by someone who we were working with in Melbourne and who I trust greatly so I'm not 100% sure what it's made up of but I will do some more research around it. I have found getting the right water the most challenging part of having a successful coffee setup!


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