My water report- any suggestions?

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riored4v

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Been doing partial mashes with the my filtered water. I've been using a "whole house filter" which is charcoal and the filter is a .5 micron filter. The tap water here tastes horrible, so this is the reason for this. I've also been running the water through the filter at a rate of about 3/4 gallon per minute which i've heard will remove cholramine.

I eventually want to move into all-grain so i'm kinda curious about whether my setup is adequate enough for the water being filtered.

This is the report i pulled off of the las vegas water district website for 2007 which has the averages:

Alkalinity: 132ppm
Clacium: 84ppm
Chloride: 102ppm
Chlorine residual: 1.08ppm
Hardness: 338ppm
pH: 7.8
Magnessium: 31ppm
Sodium: 110ppm

Not sure if you guys would need anything else, but if so, let me know and i'll see if the report has it.

Thanks
 
I dont know much about water chemistry. But what I can see right off the bat is that your water is a little too basic. In fact, your water is damn near neutral. In order for best effeciency your water pH needs to be around 5.2 or 5.4 I believe.

EDIT: Sorry read post wrong. yes. mash pH at 5.2 not the water for the mash.
 
The water pH doesn't need to be 5.2 to 5.4 - the MASH pH does. Adding nuetral water to standard well modified base malt will automatically bring the mash down to that range, so don't worry about that aspect.

The main things to examine when attempting to, say, match a specific style are the residual alkalinity and the hardness.
 
sulfate SO4 is important, iron shouldnt be a problem but high levels will denature the enzymes in all grain brewing, also the hardness and alkalinity numbers are usually expressed as CaCO3 your numbers dont specify. chlorine is easy to remove (boiling or just sitting around for some time) but chloramines are very difficult you should find out if its just chlorine thats added to your water.
general concerns beyond brewing are things like lead, radioactive stuff, and microorganisms, but thats kind of obvious.
 
k1v1116 said:
sulfate SO4 is important, iron shouldnt be a problem but high levels will denature the enzymes in all grain brewing, also the hardness and alkalinity numbers are usually expressed as CaCO3 your numbers dont specify. chlorine is easy to remove (boiling or just sitting around for some time) but chloramines are very difficult you should find out if its just chlorine thats added to your water.
general concerns beyond brewing are things like lead, radioactive stuff, and microorganisms, but thats kind of obvious.
Click to expand...

I think i read somewhere on CaCO3 is lumped in with general hardness???

I didn't see a listing for that on the water report for CaCO3, just hardness.

I also don't see Iron listed.

You guys almost make the tap water sound decent here.. but i swear it tastes horrible and is hard as hell.
 
DaleJ said:
Since you're running the water through a filter, you probably want to get a report on that water to know where you stand.

Then, Chapter 15 in Palmers book should help you out. The nomograph is especially helpful.
Click to expand...


how could I do that?

I was just running it through a filter since it tastes so bad, and actually tastes really good after coming out of the filter. But if the water here is in fact decent for all-grain, then maybe i'll just ditch the filter for AG.
 
You can send water samples into independed testing laboratories - for a fee, of course.

The general rule people use is "If it tastes okay to drink, it's most likely okay to brew with." This works for your filtered, but not tap water (based on taste - not numbers). I've used a home-made (per BYO schematics) filter previously, but that typically makes makes my water a wild-card, as i've never sent it out to be tested. Good rule for that is that it can't add anything, i guess, only take away. So your filtered tap should be fine.

If you're looking to hit specific water profiles, though, consider dilution. The city water here in Madison, WI is actualy a LOT harder than yours. What i've done is to actually dilute it (up to 1:4 in the case of my Pils) with distilled water to match the profile i'm looking for.

If you're really concerned, when you mash, check the pH of the mash about 10-15min in. If it's 5.2-5.5, you're golden. If not, you can adjust with salts or acids.
 
cactusgarrett said:
You can send water samples into independed testing laboratories - for a fee, of course.

The general rule people use is "If it tastes okay to drink, it's most likely okay to brew with." This works for your filtered, but not tap water (based on taste - not numbers). I've used a home-made (per BYO schematics) filter previously, but that typically makes makes my water a wild-card, as i've never sent it out to be tested. Good rule for that is that it can't add anything, i guess, only take away. So your filtered tap should be fine.

If you're looking to hit specific water profiles, though, consider dilution. The city water here in Madison, WI is actualy a LOT harder than yours. What i've done is to actually dilute it (up to 1:4 in the case of my Pils) with distilled water to match the profile i'm looking for.

If you're really concerned, when you mash, check the pH of the mash about 10-15min in. If it's 5.2-5.5, you're golden. If not, you can adjust with salts or acids.
Click to expand...

thanks.. i'll check into the place mentioned above and maybe send in a sample.

I was kinda thinking that the filtered water would be fine to mash/brew with, but like you said, it's sort of a wild card and i won't match any characteristic water, which is fine with me. I'm mainly into brewing pale ale's and IPA's and no lagers or anything like that yet.

I guess if nothing else, for now i can just use the filtered and maybe toss in a 5.2 stabilizer and keep my fingers crossed..lol
 
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but the OP is from Aurora, CO. That's known for some of the best water in CO (if not the country). I'd be taking it right from the tap and then adjusting from there - if necessary.
 
mmonacel said:
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but the OP is from Aurora, CO. That's known for some of the best water in CO (if not the country). I'd be taking it right from the tap and then adjusting from there - if necessary.
Click to expand...

When this thread was posted, I was living Las Vegas :)
 

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