Help with my water...

I checked my city's water source and the most recent report showed a chlorine level of 4ppm. The chlorine is added in the form of sodium hypchlorite. There was no mention of chloramines in the water report so I guess I can assume that there aren't any in the water. Is 4ppm enough to worry about removing before brewing or should I use camden tablets or get a filter? BTW, for any of you that are in Portland, OR I live in Lake Oswego. It's a suburb of Portland.

thanks for the help

Beavdowg said:

I checked my city's water source and the most recent report showed a chlorine level of 4ppm.

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Are you sure??? Could that be chloride at 4ppm or chlorine at 4ppb? Chlorine at 4ppm seems way out of whack.

BigEd said:

Are you sure??? Could that be chloride at 4ppm or chlorine at 4ppb? Chlorine at 4ppm seems way out of whack.

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I looked again and I think I was quoting the wrong column. I think the chlorine was detected at .51ppm. Does this sound more like in-line? Here's the link to the report: http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/wtp/2009 Water Quality Report.pdf

If .51ppm is the chlorine level should I even worry about doing anything at all to the water for brewing or should I treat it somehow?

thanks

Beavdowg said:

I looked again and I think I was quoting the wrong column. I think the chlorine was detected at .51ppm. Does this sound more like in-line? Here's the link to the report: http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/wtp/2009 Water Quality Report.pdf

If .51ppm is the chlorine level should I even worry about doing anything at all to the water for brewing or should I treat it somehow?

thanks

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How does the water taste and smell? That will tell you a lot about what you have to deal with as far as chlorine goes. It's fairly easy to take care of compared to chloramines. Chlorine will evaporate from the water simply by letting it stand or you can speed the process along by preheating or boiling the water before brewing use. Heat will drive out the chlorine quickly. Beyond that the water report linked is merely a "health quality" report to reassure customers the water is safe to drink. Unfortunately is has little use for brewing purposes. Ask the water department for a report that includes dissolved mineral content and residual alkalinity. The link below has very good starting information on water for brewing.

Water And Homebrewing

Yeah, the .51 ppm is the correct number.

As BigEd said chlorine will evaporate from standing water and be driven off quicker by boiling.

The water quality report is a quick look to see where you are at in contaminates. The water quality analysis, which is often not posted for smaller cities, gives you all the secondary levels of minerals in the water. You can often request this from your water authority.

If your water is similiar to Portland, and even Seattle for that matter, you have very soft water that can benefit from mineral additions for certain styles. I wouldn't worry too much starting out, but when you are ready read chapter 15 of the online version of how to brew. It can get a little technical.