<p>I am thinking about asking for a Keurig coffee machine for Christmas, and I am reading that if you have hard water the machine will get ruined if you don't use bottled. I know A2 has crap water so I wanted to ask if any of you have a Keurig and if you use bottled water, or if you've had any problems. I can't afford to keep buying bottled water all the time so if that's necessary I'll have to come up with something else. </p>
<p>IF it is necessary, could I just leave a brita pitcher out on my desk and use that water? There's no room in my fridge for another pitcher and I hate the taste of the filtered water, but I want the keurig!</p>
<p>I have no idea about the Keurig machines, but you do realize that bottled water goes for about $3 a case right? Which I assume will last you about a month?</p>
<p>I have about $10 spending money total for the month for my expenses and entertainment, so that idea doesn’t particularly appeal to me. Not to mention having to haul cases home and find a place to store them in my dorm, I can’t imagine where I would stuff them. I would be getting a case of the k-cups with the machine if I got it so I wouldn’t have to worry about that expense, but with my financial situation paying for water would be ridiculous.</p>
<p>I can get my hands on a brita pitcher so if that would solve the problem that is a possibility, but again I have a limited amount of storage space so unless that is necessary I don’t want to deal with it. If people do think the hard water is a problem then I will deal. I just don’t want to use up more funds/space for a water solution if the water isn’t actually an issue.</p>
<p>how do you only have $10 spending money? Michigan is such a huge research school that there are ALWAYS studies going on that pay you $20 visa credit cards for like 30 minutes of your time. I’ve already made $60 from 4 studies, easiest money I’ve ever made too</p>
<p>I haven’t found too many studies that don’t specifically require healthy people and/or people who aren’t on any medications. I am chronically ill and on many medications so I am not particularly useful for many studies. I actually have participated in studies on my particular health conditions, but there haven’t been many of them. Now that you’ve mentioned it perhaps I’ll look again and see if I can find some more. :P</p>
<p>I guess I will just get a brita pitcher to be on the safe side.</p>
<p>Keurig machines are not cheap ($100-$200) and the coffee packets are not either so if the $10 isn’t going to cover bottled water, you might want to ck out the other expenses. A cheapo coffee machine that works fine with/without bottled water is around $25.</p>
<p>As I said, I would be getting a case of the kcups with the machine as part of my gift so I am not as worried about that. If I were just going to use a cheapo machine I would stick to instant coffee like I normally drink, but my boyfriend is interested in the keurig machine. </p>
<p>Seriously guys, I just wanted to know if anyone had a keurig machine and if they had problems because of the hard water, I didn’t need advice about my finances. ;)</p>
<p>We also have hard water in S. Fla. and I’ve had a Tassimo machine for the past 4 years. I absolutely love the machine and use it daily. The machine came with a cleaning disk that you use periodically to remove the lime deposits and it works very well. I always use cold tap water in the machine, never bottled. I know Tassimo has a model that includes a water filter, but I have the one without one.</p>
<p>The disks are expensive, but I buy them either at BBB with the 20% coupons or when Target puts them on sale. If you get the Keurig system, they sell the k-cups at Costco.</p>
<p>I’ve had a keurig in my dorm all year and have been using the regular dorm water from the tap and it works fine. haven’t had any issues</p>
<p>^Out of curiosity, what model do you have? Boyfriend and I are a bit torn between a few of them. Thanks for your input! I was afraid even if I filtered the water it would still trash the thing, from what I have read it sounds like a lot of people have had problems.</p>
<p>just found out my roommate uses a Keurig machine too. I use it to heat water up for tea that I make, and he uses it for coffee (probably a few times a day, he’s an addict i swear haha). And I’ve just been using either water from the drinking fountains or water from the sink if I’m too lazy and sometimes we use water from the brita pitcher, and so far it works good as new. He’s had it for a year or so too I think, and I mean we’re guys so we don’t know a thing about possible damage from using hard/soft water (or what that even means, but maybe I’m just ■■■■■■■■), but I don’t think there’s a problem. Doesn’t look like there’s lime build-up (is that what I’m supposed to be looking for? lol).</p>
<p>I’ll ask him what model it is too when he gets back, if I remember.</p>
<p>^That was the one I was looking at originally, but now I am considering the next one up (special edition, b60) since it’s programmable. Thinking maybe if I know I have a cup of coffee waiting for me it will be easier to haul my ass down from my loft BEFORE my morning class ends. 
</p>
<p>I am used to instant coffee so this will be quite the upgrade. Hope the teas are good too, I am hoping that will bring boyfriend around to the idea! XD</p>