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I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning. Coffee is such a life saver for me, especially when I have been up too late writing blog posts or reading, which seems like a lot lately. I love coffee.
You know what I don’t love? Running a vinegar rinse through the coffee maker to clean out mineral deposits. If you live in a place that has hard water, you know what I am talking about. You know it is time to do a “coffee pot cleaning” when your aromatic brew has been reduced to a mere trickle. Not only do you have to run vinegar though the coffee machine, you need to do quite a few rinses just to get the vinegar taste/smell out.
The Solution
A few years ago I discovered a solution to the coffee pot “buildup”, the ZeroWater Filter. This filter is different than other pitcher style filters. How is ZeroWater® Different?
It is a 5 stage filter which is more comprehensive than conventional 2 stage filters
• Ion Exchange Technology
• Removes (99.6% of detectable dissolved solids; most brands pm;y removes 50% – (Source)
(When I was researching different water filters, this one caught my attention. In high school I did a summer internship at the Cooper Union Engineering School in NYC. I worked on a project with a scientist who was using ion exchange resin to filter out chloride from drinking water. So, I knew this filter really was unique).
I use a French press coffee maker but I still had mineral build-up issues in the glass water kettle I use to boil water. It was not only unsightly, it affected the functionality of the water kettle. (I had to replace it once, and I think the build-up was the cause). A vinegar rinse helped, but it became a nuisance to do the rinse. When I bought a new glass electric kettle, I decided to try ONLY using water from the ZeroWater Filter to fill up my water kettle. (I use a Berkey Filter for our drinking water, and that filtered water still contains many minerals). I was pleasantly surprised by the results of my experiment. My idea worked like a charm.
Since I started using only water from my ZeroWater filter to make coffee I have not needed to do a vinegar rinse!
I was so excited to find a sort of “coffee pot hack”. It’s really simple too, and it does not require setting up a fancy water filter under the sink. It is an easy, affordable, and portable water filter.
I use the small 6-cup pitcher, since I only use it for making coffee. If you use it as a primary water filter you might want a larger pitcher. (I use a Berkey Countertop Filter as my primary water filter). You also might want to add some minerals back into the ZeroWater filtered water, (it removes most minerals).
How many gallons of filtered water will you get from each filter?
That depends on the amount of Total Dissolved Solids in your tap water. (Don’t worry if you do not know what this is, the pitchers come with a device that measures the TDS). Most water in the US has a TDS of 051 to 200. The expected quantity of ZeroWater per filter at this level of TDS is 25-40 gallons. Source I can always tell when it is time to replace my filter, it gives off a sort of “fishy” smell.
It’s kind of funny, I have been doing this for a few years, and I did not think much of it. But a few months ago, when I bought a few ZeroWater Filters at Shopko, the woman who was working at the checkout line asked me about the filter. I told her about my little “coffee pot hack” and she was very interested. It made me sort of giggle to myself, because if I had told her it filtered out fluoride, she probably would have given me a strange look. But using a filter to avoid rinsing out a coffee pot with vinegar – that really got her attention.
So I hope my little “coffee pot hack” might make life a little easier for someone else. 😉
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