# BWT Bestmax Premium XL - overkill for home use?



## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

Morning.

Now starting to order things for the new house and a water filter is pretty high up on the list.

Will be used for feeding a tap which will be used for drinking, filling the kettle, espresso machine and anything else that needs water.

Given the water quality around here, the small one won't last that long at all, but is the XL cartridge a bit overkill? Also the price of the S cartridge is only about £100 less than the XL for 1/4 of the capacity.

Main reason for looking at the XL is that it's readily available. The M sized cartridge seems to be rocking horse poop. Will be getting the digital meter to monitor the usage. Space isn't a problem as the cartridge will happily fit under the sink.

Any suggestions?


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## PeterL (Aug 5, 2015)

Am in the same boat about to do same. The question is do they have a max used by in duration rather than volume as this is likely the decider?


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

12 months ish I think


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

Replace if not used for 4 weeks or after 12 months.

Also, if not used for 48 hours 4-5 litres must be flushed through - which on the small cartridge with our water could be as much as 2% of it's capacity. Ouch.

I checked that.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

I cant seem to find the information im looking for for these cartridges, ie how many litres they are meant to have run through them before you are meant to change them.

I have a water filter fitted with a special tap on the sink for the same duties as you, mine is the small one and I change it yearly. Mine states how many litres it should have put through it before being changed, ( good for 1700 gallons \ 6,435 litres), but I dont measure the water,, how could I?

By my calculations the XL one is good for 35,000 coffees if london water is used.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Flibster said:


> if not used for 48 hours 4-5 litres must be flushed through - which on the small cartridge with our water could be as much as 2% of it's capacity. Ouch.


If 5 litres is 2% then the small cartridge is only good for filtering 250 litres,, thats not very much


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## aaroncornish (Nov 7, 2012)

Deleted


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

Jumbo Ratty said:


> I cant seem to find the information im looking for for these cartridges, ie how many litres they are meant to have run through them before you are meant to change them.
> 
> I have a water filter fitted with a special tap on the sink for the same duties as you, mine is the small one and I change it yearly. Mine states how many litres it should have put through it before being changed, ( good for 1700 gallons \ 6,435 litres), but I dont measure the water,, how could I?
> 
> By my calculations the XL one is good for 35,000 coffees if london water is used.


http://www.bwt-wam.com/shopdocuments/Records/Documents/Download/datenblatt_bestmax_premium_v4_en01_screen.pdf



Jumbo Ratty said:


> If 5 litres is 2% then the small cartridge is only good for filtering 250 litres,, thats not very much


Worst case scenario for the small filter is it can handle less than 240 litres before replacement. *see pdf above*

It's not quite that bad here, but I've guessed that it'll handle about 3-400 litres here. XL should handle about 4 times that while only being £240 instead of £140 for the small cartridge.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Id be getting the XL then, better value, peace of mind


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

Jumbo Ratty said:


> but I dont measure the water,, how could I?


Aquameter


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

funinacup said:


> Aquameter


I should have been clearer,, i meant the volume I actually put through the filter.

Although I reckon there must be some kind of device I could put in line to measure that.


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

That's what an aquameter does.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

funinacup said:


> That's what an aquameter does.


I must be looking at the wrong things then.

and what ive seen costs multiple times the amount my filter does, so id rather over estimate my consumption, buy the corresponding filter and change it yearly.

Plus id have to install the thing

If you want to post a link to the one you mean then please do


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

Don't want to throw too much of a spanner in the works but are you are you need Bestmax? I use a BestTaste X at home. It does drinking water, espresso machine and I replace it once a year. I think they are only £50ish. The flow meters that BWT sell are expensive and we don't recommend them to people as it's easier just to write the install date in marker on the cartridges when you fit them and change after 12 months. If you have a seperate tap on your sink, there shouldn't be a need to use such a large filter in the home. Also, you only need to flush through water if it's been stood for more than a day or so which doesn't really happen in the house.


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## GlennV (Mar 29, 2013)

I don't think BestTaste will reduce hardness.

This is the best price I've seen for the Besmax premium (v size it looks like, which is above s and below m)

http://www.thewaterwarehouse.co.uk/BWTBestmaxPremiumCartridge?varID=211

I really can't decide whether to order one of their kits, or continue with RO water+minerals.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

I got recommended a Best Taste due to water softness, PH and conductivity. Going to get one to try out as they're fairly reasonable.


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

foundrycoffeeroasters.com said:


> Don't want to throw too much of a spanner in the works but are you are you need Bestmax? I use a BestTaste X at home. It does drinking water, espresso machine and I replace it once a year. I think they are only £50ish. The flow meters that BWT sell are expensive and we don't recommend them to people as it's easier just to write the install date in marker on the cartridges when you fit them and change after 12 months. If you have a seperate tap on your sink, there shouldn't be a need to use such a large filter in the home. Also, you only need to flush through water if it's been stood for more than a day or so which doesn't really happen in the house.


Yup. The water quality around hear is atrocious. We've got a cold water feed shower. We have to replace it every 12 to 18 months. The water is so bad that every few years or so I clean out the top of the water heater tank. Last time I pulled out 6kg of limescale, some of it in chunks almost half an inch thick.

I think we need the filter.







Also, hence the flowmeter.

We regularly go away for the weekend so it'll get flushed every month, maybe twice a month.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

Ah, hadn't picked up on the water being so bad. Easy to forget how lucky we are around here.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Flibster said:


> Yup. The water quality around hear is atrocious. We've got a cold water feed shower. We have to replace it every 12 to 18 months. The water is so bad that every few years or so I clean out the top of the water heater tank. Last time I pulled out 6kg of limescale, some of it in chunks almost half an inch thick.


Weve got a water softener fitted, keeps limescale under control plus the water feels nicer on your skin. You might consider having one of these fitted if its buggering up your shower etc

If you have a water softener fitted you also have to have a water filter and separate tap for drinking water


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

Jumbo Ratty said:


> Weve got a water softener fitted, keeps limescale under control plus the water feels nicer on your skin. You might consider having one of these fitted if its buggering up your shower etc
> 
> If you have a water softener fitted you also have to have a water filter and separate tap for drinking water


We've though about it in the past, but getting access to the mains inlet in this flat requires you to be a contortionist. I can only just reach the stopcock.

Plus, we're only planning on being here for another month max. Then we will be in the house and the flat willbhave quite a bit of work done and be rented out.


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## dancing james (Nov 29, 2015)

We are moving to Gloucestershire and would like to plumb in our espresso machine. However the water is very hard, we get through 10-12 litres of bottled water a week in our machine at present. Would the bestmax be the appropriate solution for our installation?


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## PeterL (Aug 5, 2015)

It would


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## dancing james (Nov 29, 2015)

How easy is it to install? What size cartridge should we go for?

I assume the premium cartridges are the ones to go for.

Cheers

James


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## Gustoso (11 mo ago)

Flibster said:


> Main reason for looking at the XL is that it's readily available. The M sized cartridge seems to be rocking horse poop. Will be getting the digital meter to monitor the usage. Space isn't a problem as the cartridge will happily fit under the sink.
> 
> Any suggestions?


M 2700 litres and 2XL 7000 litres so should be coffee for some time.

The BWT Aquameter can tell You how many litres filtered.


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