# Aldi still water



## emin-j (Dec 10, 2011)

Hi guys, spotted this in Aldi 8 ltrs for 99p !

Any good for espresso / machine !


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Nope. Too hard.


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## emin-j (Dec 10, 2011)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> Nope. Too hard.


Is this due to a PH of 7.8 ?


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

No. There's a formula to calculate the hardness and alcalinity based on the contents. From memory the Calcium is quite high. Compare with Volvic or Teco's Ashbeck for example.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

emin-j said:


> Is this due to a PH of 7.8 ?


No, it's due to the calcium & magnesium content. Bicarbonate isn't shown, but this is likely high too. This water is pretty normal UK water, hard, looks like Chase Spring, which is also sold by Lidl & Tesco.


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## emin-j (Dec 10, 2011)

Thanks guys better stick to the Volvic then


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## roaringboy (Jun 14, 2014)

Ashbeck is only about £1.15 for 5 litres. I usually pick one up whenever I'm in Tesco.


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Or if you can brave a trip to Waitrose the essentials in 2L bottles is another option (just don't get suckered in by all the goodies that can cost a fortune around you







)

Pre Plumbed in / filter tap days even had the Manager at the Stratford store open up a till to let me through with my teetering big trolley full of just 6x2L pack of WE, which from memory was over 150L worth, look on their face was priceless

John


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Depends where your local Aldi is situated, as they buy lots of stuff from small local producers.

In Scotland the Aldi bottled water is Scottish (= soft).

Ditto for Scottish Lidl.


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

MWJB said:


> No, it's due to the calcium & magnesium content. Bicarbonate isn't shown, but this is likely high too. This water is pretty normal UK water, hard, looks like Chase Spring, which is also sold by Lidl & Tesco.


This is definitely Chase Spring, Fradley Park, Lichfield. Label is identical to the bottle I have from Asda.

I don't think the label is accurate. Tds given as 219ppm measures only 128 with my Tds meter. I still wouldn't chance it in a machine.

I use it to add alkalinity to my brew water mix and analysis of that convinces me that it is considerably less hard than the label suggests.


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## emin-j (Dec 10, 2011)

roaringboy said:


> Ashbeck is only about £1.15 for 5 litres. I usually pick one up whenever I'm in Tesco.


Been using Ashbeck for most of the time I've had my espresso machine but recently changed to Volvic as this seems to be the water of choice for most people that use bottled water but to be honest I couldn't taste any difference in the cup between Ashbeck/Volvic, until recently it was only Sainsbury's and Waitrose that sold the 6 1.5 ltr packs of Volvic around here and my wife shops at Tesco's hence the Ashbeck but noticed only this morning Tesco's are advertising the 6 pack Volvic for £3.00.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

emin-j said:


> Been using Ashbeck for most of the time I've had my espresso machine but recently changed to Volvic as this seems to be the water of choice for most people that use bottled water but to be honest I couldn't taste any difference in the cup between Ashbeck/Volvic, until recently it was only Sainsbury's and Waitrose that sold the 6 1.5 ltr packs of Volvic around here and my wife shops at Tesco's hence the Ashbeck but noticed only this morning Tesco's are advertising the 6 pack Volvic for £3.00.


Ashbeck doesn't quite meet the requirements for boiler friendly water, low minerals & pH.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> No. There's a formula to calculate the hardness and alcalinity based on the contents. From memory the Calcium is quite high. Compare with Volvic or Teco's Ashbeck for example.


The text below is taken from my review of the Lelit Mara https://coffeeequipmentreviews.wordpress.com/2017/11/20/lelit-mara-pl62s/#more-232

realise it has an internal water filter, but in reality they are about as useful as snowshoes in the desert. They don't soften for very long and in the tank for more than a few weeks they tend to go mouldy inside (so don't bother trying to recharge them)! You are far better off using boiler safe water if you live in a hard water area. This can be certain bottled waters (NOT mineral waters), you can get plenty of advice on the forums. Volvic is one name that springs to mind. it's important to get the calculation correct for estimating whether the mineral water is soft or not. It is only2 minrals that cause the hardness.



MgCO3 (Magnesium Carbonate)


CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate)


Soft water is usually below 60 mg/L (miligrams per litre) of the combined total of these compounds. Moderately hard is 60-120 and hard is 120-180.

The problem is that these waters normally only state the amount of Mg and Ca and not the whole compound and it's misleading. Volvic has 11.5 mg/L calcium and about 8mg/L magnesium., so you would think it's super soft&#8230;*BUT you have to multiply the calcium number by 2.5 and the magnesium number by 4 to get the real amount (it's just chemistry).* This works out for be 28.75 + 32 = 60.75 mg/L which just classifies as soft and won't scale the machine badly at all.

Hilghland Spring Water on the other hand has about 40mg Calcium and 10mg Magnesium, multiplying these figures by the right amounts gives 140 mg/l&#8230;which is quite hard!

*So whatever you do be very careful to get it right, or seek advice about the many cartridge systems available to give boiler safe water, or even reverse osmosis with bicarbonate re-mineralisation (that's what I use).*


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## 9719 (Mar 29, 2015)

MWJB said:


> Ashbeck doesn't quite meet the requirements for boiler friendly water, low minerals & pH.


Can anything be added to Ashbeck to make it more boiler friendly/tasty in the cup? I ask because Tesco's is only 2 miles away, whereas Sainsbury's or Waitrose is a 30-mile round trip, don't mind if we need lots of other things but just for water doesn't make any sense.


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

mines_abeer said:


> Can anything be added to Ashbeck to make it more boiler friendly/tasty in the cup? I ask because Tesco's is only 2 miles away, whereas Sainsbury's or Waitrose is a 30-mile round trip, don't mind if we need lots of other things but just for water doesn't make any sense.


If your tesco stocks Highland Spring or Chase Spring you could mix a touch of that in, but don't overdo it. Maybe 3 parts Ashbeck to 1 part Highland Spring.

Whether it will be tastier I don't know but it will be more boiler friendly.


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## 9719 (Mar 29, 2015)

Will scan for those on my next visit, although it's only a metro so not a huge choice, if not available will see if they will order in a truckload, ok maybe just a few litres to be going on with.


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## lee1980 (Jul 25, 2017)

I been using waitrose stretton hills as recommended on here, need to look at label I guess. Its pretty cheap I think about £2 or so for 4x 2 litre bottles. Do have a clariss everpure filter to plumb in to which should do the job for hardness I hope!!


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