The water filter fitted to your coffee machine is a crucial part of your coffee machine and can prolong its life and reduce the risk of costly breakdowns due to scale and taste related problems which most certainly will occur if a filter isn't fitted to your machine.  This must run ‘hand in hand ‘ with regular preventative maintenance and the frequency will depend upon usage which will include not only servicing your coffee machine but also changing your water filter on a ‘litre usage’ basis not on time alone.  A common perception is that particular area's have "good water" regardless of this you could still have issues with taste or sediment all which can affect your machine or coffee.  Remember your cup of coffee is made up of mostly water so the better the water tastes the better the coffee will.

There are two common types of water filter:-

The older salt / resin softeners which look almost like a stainless steel fire extinguisher only work if regenerated regularly by replenishing the salt and flushing - however these must be constantly maintained and replenished.  Failure to do so will allow salt into your boiler and affect the taste of your coffee considerably.

The more commonly used carbon or resin type water filters require only to be replaced when they have reached the advised litre usage (this can be monitered by means of a water meter).   Once these systems are in place it is normally just a case of replacing cartridges at roughly half the cost of the initial outlay - for areas with poor water quality it is much cheaper to filter the water than have the expense of a "scaled up" coffee machine.  A good system will cut out breakdowns, costly repairs and de-scale procedures for the customer not to mention giving better tasting coffee!

Advice on the hardness of water in your particular area is available upon request