Espresso Machine Water Softener Filter for Ascaso, Isomac, Quickmill, Expobar, Lelit, VBM, and Many More!

I'm using these for a Lelit and La Pavoni. As far as I can tell - they are working great. Easy to replace, easy to use. They also seem priced fairly too. I will be buying more in the future.

Perfect replacement for my OEM filter on our Expobar Brewtus

This little thing is great. Note: I'm not using as directed, I actually McGuyvered a water softening bottle out of this, a 32oz Nalgene bottle, and some silicone sealer. My only gripe is the water comes out with an incredibly high TDS level, which makes sense I guess. Specifically, after running 250+ hardness water with about 285 TDS through this, it comes out on the low side between 50 and 120, but with around 325 TDS. I then run it through a Brita pitcher to take it down to 30-50 hardness and about 275 TDS.

I am using this filter with a Profitec Pro 500 espresso machine. It doesn't use a filler tube, but it comes with a silicone tube that fits over the water outlet in the bottom of the tank while the other end of the tube attaches to this filter. See photo for details. I am very anal-retentive about my water hardness. I measure it using the API GH & KH test kit that is sold by Amazon. My tap water has a GH (hardness) of around 125 to 14o ppm and a KH (alkalinity) of about 70-110 ppm. If you are serious about the quality of water you use in your espresso machine, you need to read "Jim Schulman's Insanely Long Water FAQ" (a web search will easily find it). Jim recommends that the sum of hardness plus alkalinity not exceed 80 to avoid having to descale your espresso machine. Prior to getting this filter, I used BWT Bestsave in-tank pouches to soften my water. I measured the BWT pouch treated water. Water hardness was reduced to 50-70 ppm and alkalinity to about 55 ppm. The pouches cost $15 and last two months. And the sum of hardness plus alkalinity exceeds the target of 80. This resin filter reduces hardness, but not alkalinity. After installation, i measured my tap water with the filtered water output from the group. At this time my unfiltered tap water had hardness of 125 ppm and alkalinity of 70 ppm. The filtered water had hardness reduced to 35 PPM while the alkalinity was unchanged at 70 ppm. Although the hardness was reduced to a much lower level than I got with the BWT pouches, the sum of hardness and alkalinity slightly exceeds Jim Schulman's target of 80. So I will still occasionally descale my espresso machine. However, this filter should be much more economical than the pouches, as it should last much longer than 2 months. These types of resin filters usually need recharging by soaking in salt water and last 6 months. I haven't had mine long enough to know how often recharging will be necessary or what its lifetime is. I intend periodically measure the filter output to see when recharging or replacement is necessary. To conclude, I recommend this filter, but I also recommend you test your filtered water hardness to see if your espresso machine still needs to be descaled.

I'm sure this is a perfectly fine product, but in the Question section it says it should fit a Mara X with a submerged filter. I have the Mara X and when I tried to install this it would not fit. The base of this model flares out (which holds the fin opening for the water) and is wider than the holder of the Mara X.

Works well in my coffee machine.

May be able to jerry rig it with some silicon tubes or similar, but the tip is too large to fit directly into Profitec 500 tank’s egress valve.

I've been using these for many years. Hard water is one of the great crema killers, and these water softeners are the perfect fix. If you're pulls begin to produce less crema over time, you can usually extend the life of this type of softener by soaking it in a solution of water and table salt.