How to tell if your water is soft water or hard water

Ideally, the first step would be to test the water, but most people don’t have access or enough knowledge to test their own water (we can help with this!)

The following signs will prove that you need a water softener

1. Scale – White formation around any heating elements, such as boilers and in pipes
2. Stains on sinks or metal surfaces
3. Stains on glass & cutlery
4. Bitter coffee due to over extraction 
5. Increased electricity bills – elements & pipes blocking up, taking too long to heat up

Soft water supplied by municipalities does not require additional softening and may cause corrosion issues for your equipment. Always make sure the softener is set to the hardness of your water supply. If the hardness is set too high, the softener will cost more to operate, wastewater and will lead to damaged equipment. 

Water softening can be a lifesaver, but only if correctly applied.

Pros and cons of water softening

Pros:

  • Energy saving in water heating due to less scaling
  • Protection of equipment against scale
  • Improves taste in beverages, will lead to better extraction 

Cons:

  • Softened water becomes much more aggressive at leaching metals from water lines. Lead in soldered joints and copper in pipes and faucets are particularly vulnerable, two of the heavy metals that shouldn’t be in your drinking water.
  • Softening already soft water will lead to under extraction in coffee, making the cup taste sour and like vinegar
  • Copper and similar metals will be damaged for beyond repair and will have to be replaced more often

Point of use applications for HARD WATER, we suggest Claris Ultra

The Claris Ultra has a unique water conditioning technology that combines mineral adaptation, mineral stabilization, and corrosion inhibition

It features a 5-stage filtration process that includes:

  • Prefiltration
  • Carbonate hardness adjustment
  • Fine filtration
  • Highly efficient carbon block
  • Solid membrane filter

It removes harmful contaminants and unpleasant odors and tastes and also removes particles down to five (5) microns for the highest equipment protection.

Point of use applications for SOFT WATER, we suggest 4CB5-S or B

The 4CB5-S (22 700L capacity)

  • Reduces chlorine taste and odor and other offensive contaminants that can adversely affect the taste of water and beverages
  • Reduces limescale buildup that can cause excessive machine downtime and increased maintenance costs 
  • Carbon block filter finely polishes water for high quality beverage and food applications
  • Reduces extra fine dirt and particles as small as five (5) microns in size by mechanical means

The BH (11 350L capacity)

  • Provides clear, fresh, premium quality ingredient water for consistently great tasting coffee and beverages 
  • Proportioned scale inhibitor feed dramatically prevents limescale from forming in brewing equipment
  • Exclusive precoat filtration provides superior chlorine taste & odor reduction and micro-filters dirt and particles as small as 0.2 micron in size by mechanical means
  • Everpure’s unique filter blend using activated carbon reduces chlorine taste & odor and other offensive contaminants 
  • Proprietary Micro-Pure® II filtration media effectively inhibits the growth of bacteria on the filter

If you have any questions or need support, please get in touch with our team.

  • mail@ultimatewater.co.za 
  • Cape Town: 021 556 7418 
  • Johannesburg: 071 364 5066

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