Description
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener. Designed to protect coffee machines and other water-consuming appliances from scale build-up.
100% designed and manufactured in Australia, the SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft – Coffee Machines Water Softener has been proven to reduce scale build-up. It improves appliance performance and reliability while limiting risk of scale-related damage. By reducing scale, it will also improve flavour extraction, resulting in a better tasting brew.
What Does It Do?
Many parts of Australia have “hard” water, which is defined as water containing a high level of dissolved minerals and salts.
Some of the minerals found in hard water can precipitate from the water when it is heated, forming a limescale crust on hard surfaces.
This is especially problematic for coffee machines, as limescale can coat the boiler walls, heating elements, water lines, steam lines, thermostats, and other internal components.
Scale build-up in coffee machines can lead to several problems including:
- Machine Failure
The biggest risk is that scale completely blocks your coffee machine’s hot water lines or damages the internal components of the machine. If this does occur, you may be up for a very expensive repair, or in the worst case scenario — a new coffee machine. - Energy Inefficiency
If scale has coated your coffee machines heating elements, it will become much harder for the machine to heat water to the correct temperature. This can increase the amount of time it takes for your coffee machine to reach temperature and makes it more expensive to run your machine. - Impaired Coffee Flavour Extraction
Maximum flavour extraction requires clean water that has reached the ideal temperature (between 92–96 °C). If your boiler is coated with scale, it may struggle to reach this temperature point. Any scale particles that have accumulated can also break off the walls of your boiler, giving your coffee a chalky taste and impacting it’s mouthfeel. - Reliability Issues
Scale can affect how reliable your coffee machine is, by damaging components or making them malfunction. If you have lots of scale, get ready for lots of problems.
The SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft – Coffee Machines is an innovative product that was developed to to dramatically reduce limescale build-up coffee machines.
It uses a patented process to change the electrical charge of dissolved minerals in water.
This change makes scale-forming minerals clump together in non-sticking colloids, which remain suspended in the water. This reduces the ability of minerals to precipitate from the water and form limescale within your coffee machine.
By protecting your coffee machine in this way, the SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft for Coffee Machines ensures you get to enjoy a high-quality brew from your expensive coffee machine for many years to come.
The best part — this process does not involve chemicals and does not require electricity. Once installed, the SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft will last for many years, if not decades.
Comes with a Lifetime Manufacturer Warranty (See manufacturer website for details).
Please continue reading to learn more or get in touch today.
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener – Features
- Designed from the ground up to suit coffee machines
- Flow rates (Litres per minute): Minimum 0.5 L/min, Average: 5 L/min, Maximum 7 L/min.
- Standard 1/2″ Female connections, so you can use adaptors to connect to stainless steel braided lines, hard plumbed copper line or plastic tubing.
- 316 Stainless Steel Construction
- NO Maintenance Costs
- NO Chemicals Required
- NO Electricity Required
- Does not change the taste of your coffee
- Does not add any additional substances to your coffee water
- Can break down existing scale in your coffee machine, as the charged colloids attract calcium/magnesium molecules from limescale
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Conditioner – Fitting Options
The ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine hard water conditioner comes with standard 1/2″ Female BSPP threads. You can use a variety of adaptors to make it suit your current coffee machine setup. Use the drop down box above to select from:
- No Fittings (1/2″ Female on both sides)
- 1/2″ Male Chrome Plated Fittings (Suits standard 1/2″ Stainless Steel Braided Lines)
- 1/4″ Tube Push-in Fittings (Suits tubing measuring 6mm outer diameter, a common size in domestic set-ups)
- 3/8″ Tube Push-in Fittings (Suits tubing measuring 10mm outer diameter, a common size in commercial coffee machine setups)
We offer a variety of other fittings as well, including 3/8″ Brass fittings, 5/16″ Tube and 12mm Tube. Take a look in our fittings section for more options and get in touch with us if you have any questions.
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener – Manufacturing Process
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener – Benefits
- Protects Your Coffee Machine From Damage
The SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener will protect your coffee machine’s heating elements, boiler walls, solenoids, sensors, pump, and water/steam lines. This can extend the lifespan of your coffee machine by many years and help you avoid expensive repairs. - Better Tasting Coffee
By ensuring your boiler is working optimally, you will get your source water up to the perfect temperature for flavour extraction. You’ll also avoid scale flaking into your coffee water. - Reduced Energy Consumption
By keeping your coffee machine’s internal components free of scale, you will ensure it is functionally optimally and not using an excessive amount of energy. - Doesn’t Change The Flavour or Aroma of Your Coffee
The SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener is not an additive, it won’t insert any additional substances into your coffee water which may impact flavour or aroma. - Simple installation
Installation is a simple matter of adding the correct fittings for your coffee machine installation. We stock a wide range of fittings, so contact us if you need assistance finding the correct items.
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener – How It Works
- SofterWater™ units are made using a special foundry process, combining a group of metals on the anode and cathode galvanic scale. This alloy has a non-sacrificial anode, which means it will never need replacement.
- As water flows into the unit, it moves through a series of baffles causing intense galvanic reactions.
- Most of the minerals in the water are attracted to the sites of these reactions, forming clumps which remain suspended in the water instead of forming scale.
- Any scale that builds-up is much easier to remove as it does not form as a hard crust.
It’s important to note that each SofterWater™ unit is designed for a specific flow rate range. The SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machine Water Softener is specifically designed for the flow rates which espresso coffee machines run on. If you need a larger unit for a faster, let us know.
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Hard Water Softener – Specifications
- Model: SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Machines
- Country of origin: Designed and manufactured in Australia
- Thread: 1/2″ BSPP Female Threads
- Overall Length (mm): 112
- Housing: 316 Stainless Steel
- Flow range: 0.5 to 7 L/min
- Application: Designed to protect appliances
- Warranty: Lifetime Manufacturer Warranty. See manufacturer website for details.
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Hard Water Softener – FAQ
What Type Of Appliances Is This Designed For?
However, it would also be suitable for other water consuming appliances within this flow rate, including Billi and Zip water chillers.
Are There Appliances It Is Unsuitable For?
If the incoming flow rate is too slow, there will be insufficient turbulence, which impacts scale reduction capacity. If it is too fast, the unit will become congested and restrict flow.
This unit is ideal for most plumbed in coffee machines as they take in water between 0.5 to 7 litre per minute,
Do I Still Need A Water Filter?
Why? Because the SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Coffee Water Softener is only reduce scale build-up.
It won’t remove other contaminants which may be present in your water, like sediment, chlorine, chloramines, volatile organic compounds, bad taste/odour, petrochemicals, pesticides, herbicides, PFAs and so on.
To deal with those types of contaminants, you will need a combination of sediment and carbon filtration. To learn more about coffee filtration, please read out blog post: Why Having A Coffee Machine Water Filter Is Essential.
Does The ApplianceSoft Require Any Maintenance?
Once installed, you can expect to get many years, if not, many decades of use from it. The alloy and stainless steel housing are resistant to corrosion and extremely robust.
Does The Internal Alloy Ever Need To Be Replaced?
The special alloy contained within SofterWater™ conditioners is not a sacrificial anode, which means it does not corrode or lose molecules over time. This means it will technically be capable of lasting for decades.
In fact, there are commercial softening units installed by SofterWater™ over 20 years ago which are still effective today.
Will It Affect My Flow Rate?
However, it is important to select the correct unit for your application. To choose the correct unit, compare your average/maximum flow rates against SofterWater™ Conditioners Model Application guide.
How Long Does It Protect Your Coffee Machine For?
The calcium and magnesium molecules in the water will eventually go back to their natural state and be able to form scale. However, in most cases, it will take between 15 to 20 days for the water to fully return to its natural state.
This means the water in your boiler should be used before 20 day mark has been reached.
Given that even domestic coffee machines have a boiler that 2 to 3 litres in size, this is generally not an issue. You will probably use the water in the boiler well before it becomes scale-forming again.
However, if you don’t use your home coffee machine very often it may be worth cycling your water every couple of weeks. This will ensure the water in the boiler doesn’t go back to its natural scale-forming state. It can be a good idea to cycle your water just to improve the taste of your coffee as well.
Large commercial units have much larger boilers, up to 22 litres for a four group machine. However, a busy coffee shop will probably consume all of the water within the boiler within a few hours — especially if a few customers are ordering Caffè Americanos.
SofterWater™ ApplianceSoft Hard Water Softener – Testimonials
“As you know, we have a bore feeding into quite a large tank which we then pump to the house with an inline pressure pump.
We were plagued with lime scale from the minute we installed the bore. There was notable build up in all taps, shower heads blocking within a month and the white scale covering everything else.
The evaporative air conditioner we had installed would block in less than 10 days, with the water squirting out the side, not just running down the pads.
We had to use industrial strength de-scaler in the air conditioner and had been told we should never have installed this type of air conditioner.
Since installing a SofterWater Conditioner on the pressure pump and one on the air conditioner we have had fantastic results.”
– Thanks Anne and Glen
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