# Bottled water



## Danm (Jan 26, 2012)

When using bottled water for espresso machines, what are the key content numbers to look for.

Water in my area is very hard and having upgraded want to keep scale to a minimum.

I know people have their brand or shop preferences but sometimes you may be in a different supermarket or your brand may be out of stock.

What are the key numbers?

Thanks


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

VOLVIC seems to be the one.

Also a Barista recommended Tesco Scottish Mountain Spring - but I have no data to back that up.

Read the SCAA recommendations here.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Waitrose essential spring water has quite a low TDS but enough minerals to create tasty espresso. It makes for quite a bright end cup profile (compared to brita filtered seven trent tap water). Its a lot cheaper than Volvic!


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Bottled water from a hard water area will scale up your m/c, while water from a soft water area won't. Look for the calcium % content on the label.

Generally speaking water from the north of England & from Scotland will be "soft".


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

espressotechno said:


> Bottled water from a hard water area will scale up your m/c, while water from a soft water area won't. Look for the calcium % content on the label.
> 
> Generally speaking water from the north of England & from Scotland will be "soft".


Agreed, but not necessarily good for making coffee. Often too soft. You're looking for a Dry Residue value (in the label) of between 90 and 170, somewhere in the middle being ideal. Volvic. Highland Spring. The Waitrose one that Gary mentions sounds interesting. Steer clear of Evian, Buxton, and many Mineral Waters. Spring Water is usually better as it has a lower D.R. (which equates to Total Dissolved Solids), i.e. the parts per million that are metals (calcium etc) and carbonates (various salts).


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

waitrose = 105 TDS

If you mix it 50/50 with Brecon Carreg (also available at waitrose) you end up being pretty much bang on the SCAA target (Chloride aside)


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## Danm (Jan 26, 2012)

Mike. Are you saying that TDS = dry residual or that lower DR = lower tds (i.e a directional relationship)


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

I was told by one bottled water producer that dry residue is the same as TDS. It amounts to the quantity of solids that remain after dehydration of the water.


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## Danm (Jan 26, 2012)

Found the answer in a useful piece on the londinium website. Can't paste the link for some reason. Volvic was recommended based on the limited test they did.


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