Every Drop Counts | 3M Water Filters for the Food Service Industry

Like most restaurants, your establishment houses an ice machine, coffee brewer, espresso machine, soda dispenser, steam equipment, or perhaps all of the above. These pieces of kitchen equipment all require one vital ingredient: tap water.  The quality of that water can vary depending on your local water system, but all water coming through your tap has been treated with chlorine and/or chloramines. These compounds are safe to drink, but can alter the taste of water. 3M Technologies treats water as if it were an ingredient in your food and beverages.

Because water is such an important ingredient, 3M offers water filters built specifically for the foodservice industry. But chlorine odor & taste is not the only issue that can arise from unfiltered water. Tap water can also contain any of the following: trihalomethane (TTHM), lead, sediment, cysts, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium (hex), chromium(tri), copper, fluoride, radium, selenium, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), mercury, asbestos, MTBE, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Same as with ingredients in your food: you’d rather not see big scary words like trihalomethane in you drinking water. 3M water filters work hard to reduce these contaminants from all of your kitchen equipment that use tap water.

A third element of tap water is hard minerals that build up in your ice machine or other equipment and create what’s called scale. Scale build-up is corrosive and can also reduce the efficiency of your machine. Tundra offers 3M Water Filtration Products that use Triple Action Filtration to reduce sediment, chlorine taste & odor, and scale formation.

Let’s take a walk through the kitchen and consider the common kitchen equipment that uses water as an ingredient. How can adding a 3M water filter improve the quality of your products and save you money at the same time?

The Ice Machine:

Ice machines present two possible dilemmas when it comes to water filtration: corrosion or scale build-up, and bad tasting ice from chlorine and contaminants.

The look and taste of your ice cubes can make or break your beverage program. A 3M ICE190S water filter will reduce residual chlorine in the water so that your ice doesn’t get that stale, somewhat metallic odor of chlorine.  Chlorine also has corrosive effects on equipment, so reducing it eliminates the corrosion of metal surfaces within the machine.

Furthermore, a 3M ice machine filter protects ice machine parts like valves, O-rings, seals, and evaporators which are subject to corrosion and scale build-up.

Coffee, Tea, and Espresso Makers.

With the rise in specialty coffee shops and boutique tea houses, consumers are not only more conscious of flavor nuances, but they are flooded with options when it comes to great tasting coffee and tea. Chlorine and other organic sediment from your tap water can leave a bitter taste to your beverages. A 3M BREW Water Filter is equipped to eliminate chlorine taste, prohibit scale build-up on heating coils, and reduce sediment that can clog the spray head on your coffee brewer’s brew basket. Choose a 3M water filter if you want great tasting coffee and less maintenance costs on your brewer or espresso machine.

And for really great tasting espresso, go with a 3M ESP124-T Water Softener System. This filtration device not only reduces chlorine from your water source, but it softens the water using Strong-acid (SAC) ion exchange to remove calcium and magnesium ions. It then replaces those with sodium ions which enhances the flavor of the espresso.

Cold Beverage Dispensers

3M believes in delivering Recipe Quality Water™ for your soda machine or cold beverage station. High amounts of total dissolved solids (TDS) can cloud your beverages. Avoid serving unappealing drinks and equip your beverage dispenser with a High Flow Filtration System. This filter system will lower sediment levels and chlorine taste & odor. Cleaning out sediment also elongates the life of the machine by avoiding corrosion and abrasion of pumps, valves, seals, and O-rings.

Steamers, Combi Ovens, and Proofers

Any cooking equipment that uses steam to cook food product can be the most expensive to maintain. Low quality water that hasn’t been filtered can cause failure and a costly call to the service tech. Using a 3M ScaleGard™ Filter System with I.M.P.A.C.T (Advanced Integrated Membrane Pre-Activated Carbon Technology) reduces scale build-up that can block drains, cause unnecessary maintenance costs, and slow down the efficiency of the machine. Not to mention the energy savings by reducing the scale build-up.

Depending on the equipment you use, you’ll need to pick the right 3M filtration device, and we’re here to help you. No matter which 3M filter you go with, these commercial foodservice filters are built to withstand the volume, usability, and product quality you demand for your food service establishment.

Shop All 3M Water Filters