Dumb Question Re: RO Water

OK here's a dumb question but I've been wondering about this for a while now:

Everyone talks about using "RO" water - which I assume is "Reverse Osmosis" water. I can buy jugs of spring water, filtered water and distilled water, but I can't find anything that labled as "Reverse Osmosis" water. Where do you folks get this stuff?

Usually, people using "RO" water have a RO to make it...

Personally, I have a dual stage filter system (under my sink) that I use for my brew water (as well as cooking and drinking water).

grocery store

Aquarium stores will often sell RO water and/or RO filters.

Brian

Why do you want RO water? RO is very similar to distilled water in that most, if not all of the minerals have been removed. The minerals are extremely important for mash health and need to be added back when using distilled or RO water. The advantage to starting with RO or distilled is that you can add minerals to achieve any water profile you want. If you really want to get into water chemistry and creating style specific water profiles then go for it. Otherwise just buy the spring water which already contains the minerals needed for a healthy mash.

Yea same thing as distilled pretty much, just a different process. I buy whatever is cheaper.

I like the cost of the water from my system... Counting the filter cost, since I've had the housing for 10 years now) it comes out to $0.04 per gallon. Water is nice and clean tasting (tap water smells of chlorine to me) and I could drink it all day long (if I wanted to)... I actually like it better than bottled water. Plus, I'm getting great brew with it. That's what's really important IMO...

The filters in my setup remove about 99% of the things you don't want in your drinking water... That includes all the harmful items. The second stage is a .5 micron filter, so nasty things are left behind...

JonK331 said:

Why do you want RO water? RO is very similar to distilled water in that most, if not all of the minerals have been removed. The minerals are extremely important for mash health and need to be added back when using distilled or RO water. The advantage to starting with RO or distilled is that you can add minerals to achieve any water profile you want. If you really want to get into water chemistry and creating style specific water profiles then go for it. Otherwise just buy the spring water which already contains the minerals needed for a healthy mash.

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with spring water you have no idea what you're getting. they list very broad ranges of mineral content.

look at ice mountain's report:
Calcium: 1.6 - 59
Mag: 0.67 - 20
Biocarbonate: <1.0-190
pH: 5.07-8.3

its my random opinion that its usually at the lower end of these ranges. My darker beers always seemed to have an acidic bite when I used to brew with pure spring water.

JonK331 said:

Why do you want RO water? RO is very similar to distilled water in that most, if not all of the minerals have been removed. The minerals are extremely important for mash health and need to be added back when using distilled or RO water. The advantage to starting with RO or distilled is that you can add minerals to achieve any water profile you want. If you really want to get into water chemistry and creating style specific water profiles then go for it. Otherwise just buy the spring water which already contains the minerals needed for a healthy mash.

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The fact is that I don't want it. I've just seen it mentioned so often that I wondered where/how people got it.

I've been using bottled Poland Springs water for my brews and have been OK until recently when I decided to brew a dark mild. According to Bru'n Water, even at their max amounts in the ranges given in the water analysis, there's not enough bicarbonate and other stuff to have the mash come out with the right ph range. That's prompted me to be more interested in water chemistry in general.

I just picked up one of these and couldn't be happier. I also added a T to it along with a line and a valve so I can fill my carboys with RO water for brewing. Made a huge difference in the quality of my drinking water - can't believe I didn't get one of these sooner after paying $.50/gallon for RO water.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...d-ro-no-di-4-stage-drinking-water-system.html

Poland Springs water is great brewing water. Especially for very light styles since its almost like Pilsen water. As Mr. Average found out though, it might not have enough alkalinity to suit more acidic grists like found in dark beers.

This is the same problem that RO and distilled water users have. Those waters have really low alkalinity and then the problem is adding alkalinity. Chalk doesn't work reliably unless you're going to do some special steps and you can't add a bunch of baking soda since that adds sodium. So, Bru'n Water includes Pickling Lime as an option for adding alkalinity. You have to be very careful with that stuff since its very strong and it doesn't take much to overdo it.

Getting back to the original question, spring water is a crap shoot in many cases since the producer may not provide their water profile. If that is the case, you're better off starting with either RO or distilled and adding the minerals needed. As mentioned above, you do need those ions in your brewing water to give the yeast and the water chemistry the opportunity to do their magic for you.

OP - there is a decent chance your water is soft & you don't really need to go crazy with an RO system. Get your city's water report first, and go from there. My water is very high in temporary hardness so I pretty much could only brew dark beers unless I diluted it heavily with RO water or boiled it (which is probably more expensive and time consuming).

motobrewer said:

with spring water you have no idea what you're getting. they list very broad ranges of mineral content.

look at ice mountain's report:
Calcium: 1.6 - 59
Mag: 0.67 - 20
Biocarbonate: <1.0-190
pH: 5.07-8.3

its my random opinion that its usually at the lower end of these ranges. My darker beers always seemed to have an acidic bite when I used to brew with pure spring water.

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True but it's better than having no minerals at all.

I'll probably send my water off to a lab when I've moved next... I'll run a sample through my filter setup, and send them some right from the tap. That way, I'll actually have lab results to compare the two. Not just guessing what the filter system is doing for me. Well, other than making great drinking water.

the machines outside of grocery stores that you fill your own containers with are generally RO water

If it says "drinking water," "purified water," or "filtered water," on the label it is most likely R/O.

terrapinj said:

the machines outside of grocery stores that you fill your own containers with are generally RO water

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I have been filling my 5gal jugs at the Wal-Mart Neighborhood market. After I bought the jugs, they were $1.37 a 5g fill.

I use this to cut the hardness of my local water, but not on every brew (mostly the very light Pilsners). For instance, I am doing a Vienna today and not using any RO.

I also read that some of these machines, they don't change the filters often, so you can't quite be sure.

LooyvilleLarry said:

I also read that some of these machines, they don't change the filters often, so you can't quite be sure.

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I have read this as well. The two stores I buy it from post maintenance logs on the machines. They are serviced weekly and monthly respectively. In both cases the TDS measurement is recorded on the public log. If the machine was performing poorly, this number would rise and I would notice it.

If you store doesn't display a similar log you can probably find one that does.

I've used RO water every time in the three years I've been brewing, and have always been happy with the results. Although I've read varying opinions about the importance of mineral content in brewing water, I do no treatment except when called for in the recipe, e.g., Burton salts for an ESB.

Our home water supply (a well) has far too much iron and calcium for brewing, and, no, we're not going to invest in water treatment. Before anyone invests in a home RO system, you should know that such a system wastes several times as much water as is delivered in the process of filtering.

rico567 said:

Before anyone invests in a home RO system, you should know that such a system wastes several times as much water as is delivered in the process of filtering.

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Not quite true. A home RO unit is pretty inefficient, but it typically wastes 1 unit of water for each unit of product water it produces (50% recovery). The large scale units I work with in the municipal and industrial fields typically produce 3 units and waste 1 unit (75% recovery).