Bestmax Water Softener

Bestmax+More Water Softener
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Bestmax+More Water Softener

The Bestmax offers a water optimisation system for the reduction of the scale content of cold drinking water. It is designed specifically to prevent scale deposits in coffee machines.
Calcium & magnesium are removed from drinking water using a special ion exchanger. Filtration over activated carbon removes any 'bad' taste & odour from the water as well as organic compounds & chlorine. Any concentration of heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium etc) is substantially reduced.

It requires a minimum of 2 bar online pressure & can be installed in a vertical or horizontal position. I have fitted it in a vertical position -

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I used a professional plumber to extend my water system to terminate in a 'washing machine' on/off tap under my counter. Next I screwed the head holder ('U' shape metal mounting) under the counter top adjacent to this tap. The cartridge holder head which is complete with an inlet & outlet thread connection then clips into 2 slots in the mounting. I found the threads a little difficult to match up with UK size connections. I used a short piece of flexible steel covered pipe (supplied in kit) from head to water tap & then made several trips to a 'Plumb Centre' to find reducing connectors to match. Likewise the steel covered inlet pipe supplied with my La Spaz was nowhere near a matching size for the outlet on the head. It needed a combination of 2 reducers & a lot of Teflon tape to 'make the joints'. Screw the cartridge into the head & then push back to lock into position.

Be sure not to connect to the inlet on the coffee machine until all the joints are made & the cartridge is in place. Place a bucket at the end of the hose & switch on the water tap slowly to allow the cartridge to fill & bleed out any air. Then turn off the tap & fit the inlet hose to the coffee machine. Switch on the tap again & the coffee machine pump deals with the last bit of air in the inlet pipe. Bingo! The job is done.

You do have to determine the carbonate hardness of your inlet water. You can call your local authority that will give you typical information or order a 'Bestmax' test kit (very accurate but a bit pricey) or purchase a water hardness test kit. I bought a kit from 'Screwfix' for under £3.00. There are 3 settings on the filter head & you read off a chart in the manual to know which setting to use in accordance with your water hardness.

The only other initial consideration is to decide which cartridge size you need in accordance with your anticipated usage. The same head will accommodate all sizes of cartridge. The sizes available are small (1500 litres), medium (4500 litres), large (6000 litres) & XL (9000 litres)

Currently, 2008, the cartridge prices range from £60 - £180. The whole ready to fit kit including 1 small cartridge costs £120.