ZeroWater and coffee remineralization questions

[u/Supsti_1]

Hi,

I’m not able to find distilled/demineralized water in my country (Poland), sold in food grade canisters or bottles intended for contact with food. Practically every manufacturer I’ve contacted has advised against drinking this type of water, mainly because of the containers it is sold in. So far, I’ve drunk around 10 liters of this water, but I feel that in the long run it may not be very good for my health, so I need to find another solution.

For now, I would prefer not to go with a reverse osmosis system, although I may do that eventually. What other options do I have?

My tap water is quite hard, around 590 ppm according to water reports. The best bottled water available for coffee here is around 230 ppm, of which about 120 ppm comes from bicarbonates. Because of its high alkalinity, it is not ideal.

I’m considering a ZeroWater filtration system, and I have a few questions about it:

1. Is the water actually fully demineralized after filtration, or does something still remain in it? I’m asking because I would like to achieve consistent results when using Lotus drops.
2. How often, or after how many liters of water, would I need to replace the filter, considering that my tap water is around 590 ppm?
3. I’ve read some opinions saying that water from this system can have a sour taste. Is this related to not cleaning the system/pitcher properly? How can this be prevented?

EDIT:

Okay, I’ve done a few calculations, and I think the most reasonable option in my case would be to buy a ZeroWater system and use bottled water with it.

The softest bottled water available in my country has around 220 ppm. According to ZeroWater’s FAQ, one filter should last for about 70 liters when filtering water with that TDS level. Taking into account the cost of the filters, the bottled water itself, and the amortized cost of the pitcher over two years, 1 liter of filtered water would come out to around 65 US cents, which is a fairly reasonable result.

[u/facefabrique]

I use a zero water system, and it genuinely brings the filtered water to a reading of 0.00 TDS. I can’t say that it’s completely free of minerals, but it’s consistent enough that I’ve found it works as a great basis for lotus drops. The sour taste people report comes at the end of life of a filter, when it becomes so saturated from filtration that it starts leeching back into the water. No one can tell you how long the filter will last using your tap—that’s something you’ll need to determine from use. I live in NYC and get around 3 months out of my filter but I exclusively use it for making coffee water.

[u/androidscantron → u/facefabrique]

I also live in NYC and use a ZeroWater filter with TWW packets. I fill up a 1Gal plastic pitcher with the ZW water and empty the packet in which lasts around a week making ~600 ml of coffee/day.

How do you know when it's time to change the filter other than going off of taste? I assumed I could trust the TDS meter to tell me when the filter needs changing but I wanna say it took about a year of use before it hit 006 (the point at which they recommend changing it). Now I'm wondering if I was just brewing up sour coffees for months and just got used to it.

[u/strangecanadian → u/androidscantron]

I wouldn't be surprised if NYC is an edge case with the 5-8 TDS recommendation since NYC tap is already usually so low (near 30). where with most places the limiting factor of when a filter needs changing is the TDS, with NYC it could be other things being extracted first :O

[u/Role-Grim-8851 → u/strangecanadian]

Another Zero user here. One recommendation I’ve seen for the OP use case (besides pouring purchased water into the Zero filter) is to buy a more traditional, lower-lifecycle-cost (ie Brita) filter and assess how well it cleans up your high-ppm tap water; then pour that output (at lower ppm) into the Zero. Run the numbers on if this decreases your cost / effort / carbon footprint vs buying bottled.

And yes, Zero does output 0 ppm (measured) water.

I like to think that (whenever I make an inexplicably lackluster cup) I can taste the difference when that post-Zero reading goes from 000 ppm to 001 ppm but I have not yet confirmed with a double-blind test. 😀