Question:
Just got another question regarding bottled water formy one group Linea. What is the best water option for my setup. I wouldprefer not to plumb in and am not sure which water option is best. Atpresent I am running off a bottle and using steam distilled pure water(the local LM agent suggested that this is the best water to use. Ithink he was considering that maintenance would be kept to a minimum byusing this type of water) but I have heard that the probes could notfunction correctly because they need ions in the water to work properlybut at least it is soft water (possibly too soft?) I also have somebottled spring water from a local reputatable company. Which is thebetter water option? Are there any other alternatives that don'tinclude plumbing in or a million dollars?

Answer: Search on and read Jim Schulman's Insanely Long water FAQ. That shouldgive you a decent understanding of the scaling process and how to dealwith it.

You need some minerals in the water to maximize taste. Pure distilledwater is not a good choice, particulary if you confuse distilled withde-ionized, which is chemically aggressive.

Distilled water may be mixed with appropriate minerals (Is Cirque thecompany that does this?) in order to produce optimum taste and protectyour machine from scaling.

You will have to drain / refill your steam boiler periodically toprevent scale buildup because minerals are left behind in thevaporization process and hardness increases as a result. Once thehardness reaches the level that forms precipitates, you will formscale. The way to prevent this is by regular flushing of your steamboiler.