Water Softener and Sodium Levels

I brew at my girl friend's house and she uses a Water Softener. I'm concerned with the Sodium Levels in the water. Is there a way to test this? I did read that you can test this with a hydrometer. I did this and it didn't register 1.000. It was slightly higher.

Some of the worst beers ive ever made was with softened water. Id advise against using it at all.

most softeners have a bypass

Would it be OK to use 2 Gallon of my softned tap water with 3 Gallons RO Water?

CeJ said:

Some of the worst beers ive ever made was with softened water. Id advise against using it at all.

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My house has a softener and my beers come out just fine, use the water straight from the tap.

Unless the unsoftened water has excessive metallic taste (iron or manganese), it is far better to use that unsoftened water in brewing. Hard water is ALWAYS preferred and necessary for good brewing performance. Calcium and magnesium are important and necessary ions for brewing, while sodium is not. Alkalinity is not affected by a softener and its this component that is the most important to control. Softened water is counterproductive to good brewing.

If you're brewing with water from the exterior hose bib of a house with a softener, its possible that this water bypasses the softener and you're brewing with unsoftened water anyhow.

Download and read Bru'n Water for more information on brewing water and its treatment.

Water chemistry is important to brewing, but for what ever reason my beer turns out good with water that went through the softener. Maybe my softener doesn't change the water that much, and I do know it's working since I add salt. Once I get a lot more brews under my belt I may try messing with the water chemistry, but for know what I have is working. Who knows I could be on to something like Pilsen!

I also really don't have much of a choice in using the softened water since the bypass would not only bypass the softener but also the sediment filter and UV sterilizer.

At first I was a concerned about the softener after reading some posts on here but now I just RDWHAHB.

Why not go to the grocery store and pick up some gallon jugs of drinking water? No boiling required and it's much easier to measure. It's extra money but I find it well worth the extra 5 or 6 bucks. I'll usually add about a tablespoon of gypsum to the brew pot though.

mabrungard said:

Download and read Bru'n Water for more information on brewing water and its treatment.

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Good information thank you, downloaded the files.

Just to see, I think I might take a sample straight from the well and then one after the softener. Will report back on the results.

How about using half softened tap water and half reverse osmosis?

NOISEpollution said:

Why not go to the grocery store and pick up some gallon jugs of drinking water? No boiling required and it's much easier to measure. It's extra money but I find it well worth the extra 5 or 6 bucks. I'll usually add about a tablespoon of gypsum to the brew pot though.

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This is what I do, it really does not add much cost to the brew, but the difference in the mouth feel / body was all the convincing I needed. I've been told from my LHBS to get spring water instead of distilled.

ingchr1 said:

I also really don't have much of a choice in using the softened water since the bypass would not only bypass the softener but also the sediment filter and UV sterilizer.

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This thread got me thinking so I just took another look at my softener and found it it does have a bypass right on it. Looks like I'll be bypassing it in the future, thought I had no other choice. Still going to send out two samples to Ward to see how the softener changes the water. Going to go with the W-6 household mineral test.

ingchr1 said:

This thread got me thinking so I just took another look at my softener and found it it does have a bypass right on it. Looks like I'll be bypassing it in the future, thought I had no other choice. Still going to send out two samples to Ward to see how the softener changes the water. Going to go with the W-6 household mineral test.

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I won't be able to check until the weekend but I'm wondering if the cold water is bypassed or if there is a way to bypass cold. I've brewed a Saison and an American Wheat with my tap water and didn't notice anything bitter or salty. I don't notice a salty taste when I drink the water. Do you notice anything in yours?

How much does it cost to get water samples tested by Ward?

You can get a simple water hardness test kit and check the total hardness (Ca++ and Mg++). You might be able to get a report from the local water treatment authorities as well. The amount of sodium that is in the water is twice the total hardness concentration. This is because in the ion exchange process, 2 Na+ ions exchange with each Mg++ and Ca++ ion. So if total hardness is 50ppm, you'll have 100ppm sodium ions in the water.

hawkeyes said:

Do you notice anything in yours?

How much does it cost to get water samples tested by Ward?

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I don't notice any saltiness to the softened water.

The sample I'm getting costs $16.50, you just have to ship the water out to them. From what I've read on here all you really need is the W-6 test, even though they have a beer test. The beer test includes Iron and Total Phosphorus, which the W-6 doesn't.

Under submit a sample there is a home brewer tab:

Ward Laboratories

ingchr1 said:

This thread got me thinking so I just took another look at my softener and found it it does have a bypass right on it. Looks like I'll be bypassing it in the future, thought I had no other choice. Still going to send out two samples to Ward to see how the softener changes the water. Going to go with the W-6 household mineral test.

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Well it took me a year, but I finally sent samples out. I went with the beer test.

Softened Water:

pH 7.7
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm = 918
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm = 1.53
Cations / Anions, me/L = 13.6 / 15.0

Sodium, Na = 309
Potassium, K = < 1
Calcium, Ca = 3
Magnesium, Mg = < 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 = 12
Nitrate, NO3-N = 0.5 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S = 10
Chloride, Cl = 351
Carbonate, CO3 = < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 = 262
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 = 215
Total Phosphorus, P = 0.50
Total Iron, Fe = < 0.01

No Softener:

pH 7.5
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm = 786
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm = 1.31
Cations / Anions, me/L = 12.3 / 13.2

Sodium, Na = 65
Potassium, K = 2
Calcium, Ca = 127
Magnesium, Mg = 36
Total Hardness, CaCO3 = 468
Nitrate, NO3-N = 0.3 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S = 12
Chloride, Cl = 288
Carbonate, CO3 = < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 = 256
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 = 210
Total Phosphorus, P = 0.41
Total Iron, Fe = < 0.01