Multiply Sulfate by 3?

I saw this posted in our local brew club news, that if you get a water report from Ward labs, they report Sulfates as SO4-S and not SO4 so you need to multiply that # by 3 to use with the various brew sheets. Anyone heard of they? I'm looking for verification.

it's true.

Snafu said:

I saw this posted in our local brew club news, that if you get a water report from Ward labs, they report Sulfates as SO4-S and not SO4 so you need to multiply that # by 3 to use with the various brew sheets. Anyone heard of they? I'm looking for verification.

Click to expand...

It's very plain on their reports. Sulfate is listed SO4-S (and nitrate as NO3-N i.e. as nitrogen as well). I assume this is because Ward Labs serves the agricultural industry where they are more concerned about how much nitrogen or sulfur gets applied to an acre than what salt it is carried in.

If you want to verify this try adding up the anions listed on a Ward Labs report assuming the sulfate is listed "as sulfate" and then again after multiplying by 3 (assuming it is as Sulfur). You'll get the right answer if you multiply by 3.

Finally, someone called the place and asked Dr. Ward directly. He confirmed that it is, just as it says on the report, "as sulfur".