Zip Hydrotaps and Hydroboils – Do you need a water filter?

Zip Hydrotaps and Zip Hydroboils are becoming more and more popular – both in commercial environments and in the homes of serious cooks.But, it is easy to think that once installed, they don’t require any maintenance, and if they do, surely the parts and labour warranty (which is 1 year on the Econoboil and the Hydrotap range, and 2 years on the Hydroboil and Hydroboil Plus) would cover any problems?

Unfortunately the answer is... No. In fact, if you don’t look after your Zip unit regarding water filtration, you will actually invalidate you warranty, so it could be an expensive thing to overlook.

But the good news is that filters are easy to buy and fit, and will address both limescale buildup and the taste and odour of the water. The reference numbers of the different filters, and information on when they ought to be replaced, are often confusing

Zip Hydroboil Water Filtration

Firstly, the Hydroboil situation: this is nice and straightforward, because the inline filter recommended for Hydroboils takes care of both limescale build up and taste and odour in one filter, and there are just 2 variants: one is 6 inches long and is recommended for the units with a capacity of 7.5 litres or less (the FL064), and the other is 10 inches longer and is recommended for units of 10 litres or more (the FL104).

Regardless of whether you are in a hard water area or not, we would always recommend the use of one of these inline filters, because without it the water is not being filtered for taste and odour.

Zip Hydrotap Water Filtration

All Hydrotaps, whether they are for domestic or commercial use, contain a submicron filter (reference number ZT002) which is claimed by Zip to be ‘the most technically advanced in the world’, and improves the taste and odour of the water.

It is recommended this is replaced every year, and it is a simple job to replace it.

The situation for preventing scale buildup is a little more complicated, but perhaps more important.

Basically, Zip say that failing to filter for scale may invalidate the warranty, and they recommend that a scale filter is fitted in any area where the hardness of the water is above 4 degrees Clark. Of course, ‘4 degrees Clark’ will mean nothing to most people, but it loosely translates to ‘virtually all of the United Kingdom’ !

To see what I mean, have a look at this article, and check out the map, created by British Water: the level of 4 degrees Clark (which is equal to 60mg/L) indicated by Zip covers all of the green area, all of the grey area, and 40% of the yellow area.

So, to make sure your Hydrotap is protected, you will need to regularly replace your inline scale filter, and if you do not already have one, we would strongly suggest getting one fitted.

The part numbers of the filters you would need depend on whether your have a domestic Hydrotap or a commercial model , and on how much it is used – this is probably easiest to understand from the following table:

(You will notice that each of these links to our Electrical Deals Direct site which can supply all of these).

If you do not already have a scale filter installed, then you will need to purchase the KIT (which includes a filter):  this simply allows you to connect the filter into the inline supply.

I hope this makes changing your Zip filter easy to understand, but if you need any advice or clarification, please feel free to call our experts on 01934 253600.