Water Filters

I'm not one to get too geeked up about water profiles for my brewing process but for those that are I got a question. 1st off, AG brewer here for those that don't know that. My whole house is on a water softener including outside hose lines. Currently I get the water from in the house via carbon filter in the kitchen sink and lug it outside to heat.

Anyways, I'm looking to buy a water filtering system for my 3-tier so I can attach a garden hose to the filter and get the water into the HLT. I went to Home D and Walfart to look for something but am not sure what would be best to buy:

Walmart one I saw was http://www.omnifilter.com/whole_house.htm#U25
Home D was I believe this one http://www.geappliances.com/smartwater/model_fs.htm?GXWH04F

I naturally want to get rid of the garden hose factor but not sure if these filters are the right kind to go for or if I got to spend more ka-ching on something else. Both go for around $30 but the Omni replacement cartridges are $5 ea and the GE's are $10 ea.

I can't tell on the GE, but the omni filters are high flow rate, which means the water goes through the sidewall and only about 1/4 inch of activated charcoal. I prefer a cartridge that flows from the bottom to the top forcing the water through 8 inches of charcoal. You can spot them easily, the sides are solid and the bottom has an inlet grid.

Go to walmart and look in the RV section. I bought a RV water filter (under the name of TastePure) that attaches inline to the garden hose. It's a fancy schmancy charcoal filter with some other things too. Only costs 17 bucks and it's supposed to last the whole "season", which i assume is 4-6 months. It has worked great so far. I attach it to my outdoor spigot and it does a fantastic job of removing the metal and chlorine taste. Also, it has a very high flow rate, not like the little trickles as from a PUR sink filter. It's only a little slower than the max output of the hose.

Cheap and easy.

Jeff, if you want to go ghetto, do the water filter that is in one of the recent BYO mags. I run it on my system. It was kind of hard to find the filter but it is compact and actually works nicely.

Do you get BYO?

Dude said:

Jeff, if you want to go ghetto, do the water filter that is in one of the recent BYO mags. I run it on my system. It was kind of hard to find the filter but it is compact and actually works nicely.

Do you get BYO?

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Negative on BYO but positive on ghetto . Where did you end up getting it? I kind of want to mount it though and I may actually do a cpvc run since I got all the stuff to do that instead of buying the rv hose so maybe not?

Paperface said:

Go to walmart and look in the RV section. I bought a RV water filter (under the name of TastePure) that attaches inline to the garden hose. It's a fancy schmancy charcoal filter with some other things too. Only costs 17 bucks and it's supposed to last the whole "season", which i assume is 4-6 months. It has worked great so far. I attach it to my outdoor spigot and it does a fantastic job of removing the metal and chlorine taste. Also, it has a very high flow rate, not like the little trickles as from a PUR sink filter. It's only a little slower than the max output of the hose.

Cheap and easy.

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Walmart has a RV section? Sporting goods? Might look into this too. Mountable? EDIT - just saw that your response was a link.

desertBrew said:

Negative on BYO but positive on ghetto . Where did you end up getting it? I kind of want to mount it though and I may actually do a cpvc run since I got all the stuff to do that instead of buying the rv hose so maybe not?

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I had to order the filter from Culligan because I couldn't find it locally. But the entire project was under 20 bucks. The filter has a 10,000 gallon life to it, so it is well worth it.

I will scan the article for you if you want it. It has a part number for the filter and a good write-up on how to build it. I have mine mounted with zip ties--because the pipes aren't really conducive to mounting. But really, for the price, it works like a charm. It was a great project.

Do these water filters you are all talking about remove the mineral content of the water as well? And if so, it sounds like you would treat the water as being "pure" and need to substitute necessary ions/minerals for the proper mash, yeast, etc.

Dude, what issue of BYO was that? I am not a subscriber, but buy it once and a while. Sounds like you have found a successful system.

Dude, I built one from the BYO article myself, do you have a trick to keep it from flying apart? The only method I have found is turning it down to about 1 gallon/minute.

It was fun figuring out that it needed to be turned down, thank god the wife wasn't around.

The filter I use is a carbon filter, removes a lot of the heavy metals and chlorine from the water. A little bit of yeast nutrient restores the metals that are needed, good idea to use it anyway.

gERgMan said:

Do these water filters you are all talking about remove the mineral content of the water as well? And if so, it sounds like you would treat the water as being "pure" and need to substitute necessary ions/minerals for the proper mash, yeast, etc.

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My understanding is that they mostly remove chlorine and chloramides. If you want mineral-free water (or close to it), you need to use distilled water (or dilute your water w/ distilled water.)

This can be problematic, though: some of the minerals that reverse osmosis removes are important for yeast nutrition. I'd never use pure distilled water, although I may experiment someday with a 50/50 mix to Pilsenize my water.

I'm not sure what I read on the instruction booklet, but it didn't concern me after I read it as far as losing too many minerals. I'm pretty concerned with my water profile too--so I know I paid attention. I was mainly interested in getting rid of the chlorine.

Vermicous said:

Dude, I built one from the BYO article myself, do you have a trick to keep it from flying apart? The only method I have found is turning it down to about 1 gallon/minute.



It was fun figuring out that it needed to be turned down, thank god the wife wasn't around.

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I ended up cementing it together. I figured by the time I need a new filter (10,000 gallons is a shi!teload of water), I'll make another one.

Dude - sure on the scan, I'd appreciate that (and maybe others here?)

gERgMan - Like cweston said, I'm not looking for RO where I believe you then have to add mineral content back in; just carbon filter in which to trap garden hose taste :cross: and bigger chunks.

I am looking out my window at an RV store near my work - might venture over there...

All, thanks for the help! Camperworld 2 blocks away from me had a whole boatload of higher volume water filters and I ended up with the TastePure one you recommended paperface. $22 for the filter + $4.50 for a 4' RV hose. Drill some holes thru the frame and a tie-wrap and it's mounted.


BTW - RV supply stores have a whole bunch of stuff that could be homebrew gadgetry me thinks! Nevermind Brandon on the scan unless someone else wants a DIY. Appreciate the offer though!

The filter won't remove the water softener salt from the water. The salts produced by water softeners will dissociate into the respective ions, most often sodium chloride or potassium chloride. Depending on which salt you are using to regenerate the resin bed you'll end of with that particular ion in your water and well you know the rest of how different ions influence flavour profiles, yeast health, etc. An aquarium shop will have test kits that will help you determine how the water profile you have post water softener. Where I live the calcium carbonate is so high that either you brew dark beers, buy water, or invest in an RO system and then augment with desired salts.

runhard said:

The filter won't remove the water softener salt from the water. The salts produced by water softeners will dissociate into the respective ions, most often sodium chloride or potassium chloride. Depending on which salt you are using to regenerate the resin bed you'll end of with that particular ion in your water and well you know the rest of how different ions influence flavour profiles, yeast health, etc. An aquarium shop will have test kits that will help you determine how the water profile you have post water softener. Where I live the calcium carbonate is so high that either you brew dark beers, buy water, or invest in an RO system and then augment with desired salts.

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True on the salts of a water softener but I wasn't worrying about that. Perhaps I should but it's what I got. The minute remnants of salt after the brine soak and back flush I've been told are extremely small with a quality system but don't know that as fact. Heck, I didn't even know how a water softener worked until I had the old one replaced and a new one installed and asked/researched. Ultimately I'd rather re-plumb the external water to not go thru the softener but no basement here. Friggen ridiculous that my lawn, drip system and pool get soft water. The plants would prefer the minerals and would lessen my salt usage! Mortons System Save salt BTW. Maybe I go bypass when I fill the HLT...

Hey Dude, ditto me on the scan as well if it's not a problem. I'm planning a brewstand and would love to include a filter on it.

desertBrew said:

Dude - sure on the scan, I'd appreciate that (and maybe others here?)

gERgMan - Like cweston said, I'm not looking for RO where I believe you then have to add mineral content back in; just carbon filter in which to trap garden hose taste :cross: and bigger chunks.

I am looking out my window at an RV store near my work - might venture over there...

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The problem with a garden hose taste is the "garden hose" .

If you need a hose for brewing, Home D and other places have hoses that are drinking water quality. The are kind of expensive, usually white in color and only about 20-25' in lenght. They also are called RV and camping hoses.

abracadabra said:

The problem with a garden hose taste is the "garden hose" .

If you need a hose for brewing Home D and other places have hoses that are drinking water quality. The are kind of expensive usually white in color and only about 20-25' in lenght. They also are called RV and camping hoses.

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I didn't see them at Home D or Lowes in my parts. But the camperworld place did in fact have them and they weren't very expensive. Think it was $15 for a 20' one. If after it goes thru the filter and still tastes like ho's I'll have to go get one of them. I got the 4' one for after the filter though.

desertBrew said:

I didn't see them at Home D or Lowes in my parts. But the camperworld place did in fact have them and they weren't very expensive. Think it was $15 for a 20' one. If after it goes thru the filter and still tastes like ho's I'll have to go get one of them. I got the 4' one for after the filter though.

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I guess expensive is a relative term. Almost a $1 a foot seems pricey to me compaired to other hoses. But it is worth the money.

Your price at the RV store is as good or better than Lowes or Home D.

Something else that can help with the garden hose taste is to let the hose run for a few minutes to flush all the water that has been sitting in the hose out. Sometimes on a really cheap hose even that will not stop it from tasting like hose.

In your case however I would be suprised if having a carbon filter at the end of the hose did not get rid of the taste.

Just run hard water to the outside faucets. Saves a lot on salt, and fixes your problem without having to buy filters.

z987k said:

Just run hard water to the outside faucets. Saves a lot on salt, and fixes your problem without having to buy filters.

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I wish - not so easy when the plumbing is through the wall and foundation (no basement). Softener is actually outside

ah ok, I see.

[hijack] I thought the salts used to soften water make it hell on your body, messing with blood pressure and stuff.

I thought you used softened water for bathing and stuff, but kept the water hard for drinking. Am I mistaken on that?

Toot, yes hard water is much better for you, and IMO tastes much better to.

I use a PUR water filter with attachment to outside faucet. VERY slow. Glad you posted the first link.
I have very soft water from deep wells, so my only consideration is chlorine. Carbon filter will do me well.
Thanks