My water report

churchy · 06-23-2011, 05:00 AM

Here is my water report from Karratha which is a country town in WA.What do you guys think, there is some large differences between min and max.I do have a RO unit but haven't used it as yet.What adjustments will I need to make for Ales ,Lagers, Stouts?

MIn Max
Ph 7.07 8.48
Soduim 23 99
Potassium 2 5
Calcium 16 30
Magnesium 9.2 37
HardCaCo3 79 195
Chloride 27 155
Iron <0.003 0.09
Manganese<.002 0.004

Cheers Andrew

**ajdelange** · 06-23-2011, 12:40 PM

With that much variability I'd hook up the RO system and go from there. The Primer in the Stickies section here will give you some starting guidelines.

churchy · 06-24-2011, 04:14 AM

With the EZ water calculator even with the min figures entered I get a PH of 5.4 and if I entered the Max figures I get a PH of 5.43 and saying I don't need to make any adjustments.If I used 100% RO water would I have 0 ppm for each chemical?

Thanks Andrew

**ajdelange** · 06-24-2011, 11:19 AM

The spreadsheets underestimate pH. With dark beers you may get a mash pH as low as 5.4 with RO water but for normal color beers you will need acid.

Though you can you do not in general want to brew with straight RO water. The Primer gives guidelines on preparing RO water for brewing various styles.

RO water is low in mineral content but not totally devoid of it. RO systems usually remove 95 - 99% of ions depending on the ion and the membrane.

churchy · 06-25-2011, 10:05 AM

Thanks for your advice guys.I'll have to do some more reading and ask more silly confusing questions.lol

Andrew