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Date: 13 Jun 2006 12:13:21
From: Gus
Subject: Rainwater, minerals and low water meters
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I've just moved from London (where the water's hard enough to hammer nails
with) to a farm in NSW, Australia where all the water comes from rainwater
tanks. I was wondering if my Giotto will have issues with rainwater as I
seem to recall some mineral content is necessary for the contacts on the
water tank to work, as it has a detector to stop the heating elements if
low/no water is present. I'm assuming that rainwater has zero minerals, but
can anyone out there with more expertise shed some light on this? Have had
a gander through Jim's Insanely Long Water FAQ, but couldn't find anything
on rain water.
Cheers, Gus
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Date: 13 Jun 2006 12:34:32
From: Coffee for Connoisseurs
Subject: Re: Rainwater, minerals and low water meters
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Couple of grains of salt in the tank every time you fill it will see the
water level controls right. Long term you might want to find out who's
pumping bore water; no more than 5% added to your tank each time you refill
it will give you enough hardness for optimum extraction. My parents' house
is over 100k from the nearest water pipeline, so rainwater or bore water is
it.
--
Alan
alanfrew@coffeeco.com.au
www.coffeeco.com.au
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Date: 14 Jun 2006 04:05:54
From: DavidMLewis
Subject: Re: Rainwater, minerals and low water meters
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Coffee for Connoisseurs wrote:
> Couple of grains of salt in the tank every time you fill it will see the
> water level controls right. Long term you might want to find out who's
> pumping bore water; no more than 5% added to your tank each time you refill
> it will give you enough hardness for optimum extraction. My parents' house
> is over 100k from the nearest water pipeline, so rainwater or bore water is
> it.
>
Hi Alan,
Another way I've seen used successfully is to purchase a sack of
calcite crystals. I don't know whether the Giotto has a filter on the
end of its pickup hose; if it does, just keep some in the tank. If it
doesn't, then keep some in a jug used to store the rainwater and filter
it out with a SwissGold filter or something before filling the
reservior. The saturated solution of calcite in room-temperature water
is around 3 grains/gallon, which is a pretty good compromise between
taste and scaling. The crystals are pretty cheap.
Best,
David
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Date: 15 Jun 2006 00:31:19
From: Gus
Subject: Re: Rainwater, minerals and low water meters
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> > Couple of grains of salt in the tank every time you fill it...
>
> Another way I've seen used successfully is to purchase a sack of
> calcite crystals.
Thanks Alan and David, will give it a go.
The Giotto should have arrived this week and is clearing customs with our
household goods.
Alan, if I'm down to Melbourne I'll make sure I pass by. Over the years
you've been a big help with suggestions and advice.
Gus
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Date: 14 Jun 2006 23:54:39
From: anthony
Subject: Re: Rainwater, minerals and low water meters
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Best of luck Gus with the move and with the minerals....
My wife and I moved from Sydney to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains
just three years ago, and luckily for us the mains-water (from Medlow
Bath) seems just about perfect.
Where abouts are you? Nice thing about Blackheath is that it's a
doorway to rural NSW -- we're out to Bathurst couple of times a month,
and regular visitors to Orange and Mudgee as well.
One of our daughters is working in London right now -- living with her
partner in Islington, right next door to Jamie Oliver's '16'
restaurant.
Best wishes, Anthony (armed with Pavoni Professinal Lever, Atomic
stove-top and soon to have ECM Botticelli)....
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Date: 15 Jun 2006 08:55:10
From: Gus
Subject: Re: Rainwater, minerals and low water meters
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> My wife and I moved from Sydney to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains
> just three years ago, and luckily for us the mains-water (from Medlow
> Bath) seems just about perfect.
Hi Anthony,
You're in a very nice part of the world. We're in Berry for the time being,
but will probably wind up in Sydney. We moved back to spend more time with
the in-laws who are down here.
For those ac'ers who recall a thread I started a couple years back, when I
was inquiring about growing coffee in NSW (I was a much more regular poster
back then), my in-laws planted some arabica which is now flourishing. Sadly
as my father-in-law can no longer take care of it, they're thinking about
how to get rid of the plants. A shame!
Gus
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Date: 15 Jun 2006 20:29:23
From: anthony
Subject: Re: Rainwater, minerals and low water meters
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> Hi Anthony,
> You're in a very nice part of the world. We're in Berry for the time being,
> but will probably wind up in Sydney. We moved back to spend more time with
> the in-laws who are down here.
>
> For those ac'ers who recall a thread I started a couple years back, when I
> was inquiring about growing coffee in NSW (I was a much more regular poster
> back then), my in-laws planted some arabica which is now flourishing. Sadly
> as my father-in-law can no longer take care of it, they're thinking about
> how to get rid of the plants. A shame!
>
> Gus
Hope you enjoy Berry -- we're down there reasonably often, to stay with
friends of ours who own a weekend home there. You probably know their
house -- it's on the main road, left hand side as you drive past the
shopping centre (away from Sydney direction) and is quite famous in the
area -- built I guess around 1950 by an eccentric do-it-yourself home
builder who used to be the local vet, who constructed his very own
crazy post-modern home with round porthole windows, and separate
upstairs living areas accessed only by an external, very unguarded ramp
staircase. They let the upstairs area for weekends, and live when there
in the downstairs main home. There's usually a big old American 50s
Chevvy or Chrysler or similar parked in the drive.
One time, about a decade back, we were staying there for the weekend --
I told our friends on the Friday night that I was off to bed early as I
wanted to hit the monthly Berry Markets first thing to pick up an
Atomic coffee machine. Friends and my wife laughed tolerantly. Next
morning I walked into the gates of the Berry showground, and picked up
for $200 a beautiful Atomic in immaculate condition, which is still
going like a steam-train. Was that psychic or what?
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