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**rabidgerbil** · 12-13-2007, 07:40 PM

The Jan 2007 issue of BYO had an article on page 58 about building a water filter.
I built one of these yesterday, and it rocks.

So far, I have been using the Brita pitcher in our fridge to refill my water jugs each time I brew. A single Brita filter is good for 2 months or 40 gallons, so if I brewed once a week, I would go through a filter about every two months, assuming that I was the only one using that filter. They do a great job, but they are slow and kind of expensive.

It takes 9 minutes for the pitcher to filter 6 cups of water, so 1.5 minutes per cup. I have 6 one gallon jugs that I am refilling, so, not including the refill time to actually put water into the Brita, it will take at least 144 minutes to refill the six gallons. Two and a half to three hours is about normal, from the time I start, to the time I am done, assuming that I set the timer to go off every nine minutes to remind me to do dump the next batch. This is a pain in the a$$.

As to the expense, a 6 pack of filters is $28.43 at Sams Club. That would be enough to get me through a year, brewing about once a week. I am brewing extract with grains, so I only need about 6 gallons per batch. If you are brewing AG, you would go through more, of course. That is no TOO bad, but it could be better.

Following the example of the filter built in BYO, I went to my local hardware store and picked up all of the parts that I needed. I had to make a few minor modifications, based upon what they had in stock, but the total project still came out to be $42. That is for a system that will get me 10,000 gallons of filtered water.

Brewing five gallon AG batches, 50 times a year, that filter will last you for 20 years. Now we are talking two dollars a year for filtered water. Also, filling all six gallons took me about five minutes.

This thing is well worth making, unless you have really good water to begin with.

Kevin Dean · 12-13-2007, 08:21 PM

I'm kicking myself for letting my subscription to BYO expire.

I'm looking forward to the copy I bought from Austin Home Brew thought.

malkore · 12-13-2007, 10:45 PM

FYI, when you're brewing extracts, your water chemistry is a lot less important...as compared to someone who's actually mashing grain.

**rabidgerbil** · 12-13-2007, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malkore

FYI, when you're brewing extracts, your water chemistry is a lot less important...as compared to someone who's actually mashing grain.

Probably true... but there is a reason that we have a Brita in the fridge...
nuff said...

**shafferpilot** · 12-14-2007, 12:14 AM

Crappy tasting water = crappy tasting beer every single time.

How bout some pics of your filter. I don't get BYO

**rabidgerbil** · 12-14-2007, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shafferpilot

Crappy tasting water = crappy tasting beer every single time.

How bout some pics of your filter. I don't get BYO

I will take some tomorrow and post them for you.

keldognuts · 12-14-2007, 01:27 AM

can we get a parts list....I did not start getting byo until may...thanks.....Kelly

**rabidgerbil** · 12-14-2007, 01:37 AM

I will see what I can do.
I have the original article, and I know what I modified,
so it should not be a problem.

If I might make a recommendation though,
look in your latest copy of BYO and you will find that they sell back issues for $5 each,
and if you buy five, if my memory serves me well, you get five more for free.

Trust me, it is a good investment.

MikeFlynn74 · 12-14-2007, 01:41 AM

Good thing all my water is pure runoff from the mountains! A little bear pee never hurt anyone

**rabidgerbil** · 12-14-2007, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeFlynn74

Good thing all my water is pure runoff from the mountains! A little bear pee never hurt anyone

No, but giardia will kick your a$$ for sure...