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This may sound dumb, but maybe the easiest solution is to put a transparent fake water container that never drains. So anyone who is about to pour water would

This may sound dumb, but maybe the easiest solution is to put a transparent fake water container that never drains. So anyone who is about to pour water would see that the machine already has water. Since the machine in question is hooked up directly to the tap, one never needs to fill it with water.

eulo 14y ago
I hope you're this guy: http://ux.stackexchange.com/users/19103/ratchet-freak http://ux.stackexchange.com/users/19103/ratchet-freak Otherwise I'm e-mad
daemin 14y ago
That's what I was thinking, but then the water would stagnate, go green, and be a potential source of mosquitos. So someone will want to change it. The fix would obviously be to make a little bit of the water be drained away whenever a coffee was made, but then it would need refilling and you're back to a situation where you might as well just have 2 containers and disconnected from the water supply.
- bathat 14y ago
  Since the false water container on top isn't going to be used anyway, what about just filling it with something hostile to microbes, like dilute hydrogen peroxide? If you wanted to get really fancy, you could even add a couple lines marked "max" and "min" and add some plumbing to make the fluid level vary between them.
  - daemin 14y ago
    Apart from the problem of having potentially toxic substances as part of a beverage generation device, adding extra moving parts to simulate a non-moving part is really adding unnecessary complexity, effectively trying to fight against the universe (and the idiots that it produces).
  - mistermumble 14y ago
    Instead of a liquid, it could be filled with solid plastic, similar to the fake glasses of liquid you see in joke shops. And perhaps a subtle label on the surface, for someone who notices that the container does not really have sloshing-around liquid in it: "No water required"
- mattvot 14y ago
  How about the water container is transparent, and is actually used. Like a buffer containing water from the pipe. As it's used it get refilled.
- Houshalter 14y ago
  I might be wrong, but it's just water, I don't think it can go bad unless it's got bad things in it. And keeping it sealed would keep away the mosquitoes. If that ever even becomes an issue.
olsonea 14y ago
The solutions that include an open air design for the bean hopper ignore the fact that oxygen is what causes beans to go stale. This is why coffee bean bags have a one-way valve built in: to let the CO2 out that is given off by the beans, and to prevent O2 from seeping back in. And the solution to the problem is to install a barista.

eulo 14y ago

I hope you're this guy: http://ux.stackexchange.com/users/19103/ratchet-freak http://ux.stackexchange.com/users/19103/ratchet-freak Otherwise I'm e-mad

daemin 14y ago

That's what I was thinking, but then the water would stagnate, go green, and be a potential source of mosquitos. So someone will want to change it. The fix would obviously be to make a little bit of the water be drained away whenever a coffee was made, but then it would need refilling and you're back to a situation where you might as well just have 2 containers and disconnected from the water supply.

bathat 14y ago
Since the false water container on top isn't going to be used anyway, what about just filling it with something hostile to microbes, like dilute hydrogen peroxide? If you wanted to get really fancy, you could even add a couple lines marked "max" and "min" and add some plumbing to make the fluid level vary between them.
- daemin 14y ago
  Apart from the problem of having potentially toxic substances as part of a beverage generation device, adding extra moving parts to simulate a non-moving part is really adding unnecessary complexity, effectively trying to fight against the universe (and the idiots that it produces).
- mistermumble 14y ago
  Instead of a liquid, it could be filled with solid plastic, similar to the fake glasses of liquid you see in joke shops. And perhaps a subtle label on the surface, for someone who notices that the container does not really have sloshing-around liquid in it: "No water required"
mattvot 14y ago
How about the water container is transparent, and is actually used. Like a buffer containing water from the pipe. As it's used it get refilled.
Houshalter 14y ago
I might be wrong, but it's just water, I don't think it can go bad unless it's got bad things in it. And keeping it sealed would keep away the mosquitoes. If that ever even becomes an issue.

olsonea 14y ago

The solutions that include an open air design for the bean hopper ignore the fact that oxygen is what causes beans to go stale. This is why coffee bean bags have a one-way valve built in: to let the CO2 out that is given off by the beans, and to prevent O2 from seeping back in. And the solution to the problem is to install a barista.