Philadelphia, PA Water Profiles

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HarkinBanks

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I made friends with someone at the water department so I thought I would share the results. It's amazing how friendly people become when you tell them you are making beer. Hope this helps some of my fellow brewers out there:

DE river-Baxter plant if you draw from this plant:

Ca-23 ppm
Mg-5.63 ppm
Sodium-19.1 ppm
Chloride-48 ppm
Sulfate-15 ppm
Hardness-80
Alk-CaCo3-36 average
Ph-7.2

Schuylkill river-Queen Lane plant if you draw from this plant:

Ca-43 ppm
Mg-13 ppm
Sodium-35 ppm
Chloride-92 ppm
Sulfate-43.7 ppm
Hardness-157
Alk-CaCo3-65 average
Ph-7.1
 
Wow, thanks for the post. I just called PWD this week to get a more detailed water report, they said they would mail it. I can post a scan or something here if it would help people.

What part of the city are you in? I am in Fishtown near Yards.
 
No problem, glad I could help.

I am in Queen Village and we draw 1/2 from Baxter and 1/2 from Queen Lane. The most recent water report in online on the PWD website, but it doesn't tell you everything you need to know. If I had to guess, they sent you that report. It took me a few weeks to get to the right guy but he was really helpful. He had to call over to the lab to get the numbers I posted.
 
After looking at the numbers and plugging them into a spreadsheet, do you have any recommendations for brewing darker beers like porter or stouts? My water comes from the Baxter plant. My base SRM is 7-13, getting it up to 25 or so sends some of the mineral levels through the roof.
 
Based on the Baxter plant water, you can get pretty close to Mosher's ideal stout profile:

Resulting water:
Ca-57
S04-44
Mg-13
Na-69
Cl-125
Alk-119
RA=49
SRM-9-14
Cl/Sulfate Ratio of 2.84
Very Malty

For 7 gallons would equal
.405 tsp of Epsom
.835 tsp Baking soda
.135 tsp canning salt
.957 tsp Calcium chloride
.022 tsp Gypsum
 
I made friends with someone at the water department so I thought I would share the results. It's amazing how friendly people become when you tell them you are making beer. Hope this helps some of my fellow brewers out there:

DE river-Baxter plant if you draw from this plant:

Ca-23 ppm
Mg-5.63 ppm
Sodium-19.1 ppm
Chloride-48 ppm
Sulfate-15 ppm
Hardness-80
Alk-CaCo3-36 average
Ph-7.2

Schuylkill river-Queen Lane plant if you draw from this plant:

Ca-43 ppm
Mg-13 ppm
Sodium-35 ppm
Chloride-92 ppm
Sulfate-43.7 ppm
Hardness-157
Alk-CaCo3-65 average
Ph-7.1

You forgot to mention these too:

By JEFF DONN
AP National Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ A total of 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts have been detected in this city's drinking water, largely in tests conducted last year, according to the Philadelphia Water Department.

The list of drugs is the longest among 62 major water providers surveyed by the Associated Press. However, this city's water officials say they probably found more drugs simply because they did more testing. They say their water is safe to drink.

Researchers found trace concentrations of drugs including antibiotics, pain relievers, heart and psychiatric drugs, and veterinary medicines. Here's the list of drugs and some of their uses:

ANTIBIOTICS
_Amoxicillin _ for pneumonia, stomach ulcers
_Azithromycin _ for pneumonia, sexually transmitted diseases
_Bacitracin _ prevents infection in cuts and burns
_Chloramphenicol _ for serious infections when other antibiotics can't be used
_Ciprofloxacin _ for anthrax, other infections
_Doxycycline _ for pneumonia, Lyme disease, acne
_Erythromycin _ for pneumonia, whooping cough, Legionnaires' disease
_Lincomycin _ for strep, staph, other serious infections
_Oxytetracycline _ for respiratory, urinary infections
_Penicillin G _ for anthrax, other infections
_Penicillin V _ for pneumonia, scarlet fever, infections of ear, skin, throat
_Roxithromycin _ for respiratory, skin infections
_Sulfadiazine _ for urinary infections, burns
_Sulfamethizole _ for urinary infections
_Sulfamethoxazole _ for traveler's diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary and ear infections
_Tetracycline _ for pneumonia, acne, stomach ulcers, Lyme disease
_Trimethoprim _ for urinary and ear infections, traveler's diarrhea, pneumonia

PAIN RELIEVERS
_Acetaminophen _ soothes arthritis, aches, colds; reduces fever
_Antipyrine _ for ear infections
_Aspirin _ for minor aches, pain; lowers risk of heart attack and stroke
_Diclofenac _ for arthritis, menstrual cramps, other pain
_Ibuprofen _ for arthritis, aches, menstrual cramps; reduces fever
_Naproxen _ for arthritis, bursitis, tendinitis, aches; reduces fever
_Prednisone _ for arthritis, allergic reactions, multiple sclerosis, some cancers

HEART DRUGS
_Atenolol _ for high blood pressure
_Bezafibrate _ for cholesterol problems
_Clofibric acid _ byproduct of various cholesterol medications
_Diltiazem _ for high blood pressure, chest pain
_Gemfibrozil _ regulates cholesterol
_Simvastatin _ slows production of cholesterol

MIND DRUGS
_Carbamazepine _ for seizures, mood regulating
_Diazepam _ for anxiety, seizures; eases alcohol withdrawal
_Fluoxetine _ for depression; relieves premenstrual mood swings
_Meprobamate _ for anxiety
_Phenytoin _ controls epileptic seizures
_Risperidone _ for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe behavior problems

OTHER HUMAN DRUGS
_Caffeine _ found in coffee; also used in pain relievers
_Cotinine _ byproduct of nicotine; drug in tobacco, also used in products to help smokers quit
_Iopromide _ given as contrast agent for medical imaging
_Nicotine _ found in tobacco, also in medicinal products to help smokers quit
_Paraxanthine _ a byproduct of caffeine
_Theophylline _ for asthma, bronchitis and emphysema

VETERINARY
_Carbadox _ for control of dysentery, bacterial enteritis in pigs; promotes growth
_Chlortetracycline _ for eye, joint, other animal ailments
_Enrofloxacin _ for infections in farm animals and pets; treats wounds
_Monensin _ for weight gain, prevention of severe diarrhea in farm animals
_Narasin _ for severe diarrhea in farm animals
_Oleandomycin _ for respiratory disease; promotes growth in farm animals
_Salinomycin _ promotes growth in livestock
_Sulfachloropyridazine _ for enteritis in farm animals
_Sulfadimethoxine _ for severe diarrhea, fowl cholera, other conditions in farm animals
_Sulfamerazine _ for a range of infections in cats, fowl
_Sulfamethazine _ for bacterial diseases in farm animals; promotes growth
_Sulfathiazole _ for diseases in aquarium fish
_Tylosin _ promotes growth, treats infections in farm animals, including bees
_Virginiamycin M1 _ prevents infection, promotes growth in farm animals


:(

You could just ferment the tap water, and see what comes of it.
 
Thanks! I'll have to pick up the additives soon. Which book lists these ideal water profiles by style? I've been doing a lot of reading lately but what is one more on the list?
 
BTW part of why Philly has so many pharmaceuticals listed is because the city tests at levels exceeding what the EPA recommends and is one of the cities the EPA goes to to develop new guidelines and methods.
 
Thanks! I'll have to pick up the additives soon. Which book lists these ideal water profiles by style? I've been doing a lot of reading lately but what is one more on the list?

If you’re trying to craft an award-winning brew, like I did recently, I think I can help you out.

Like any good city, Philadelphia has much to offer; you just have to know where to look. Recently when I explained to a brew-enthusiast friend of mine that I was looking to concoct a real special brew for the upcoming “War Of The Worts” competition. He directed me to an area of the city I wasn’t familiar with called Kensington. He laughed, and said: “Any ‘special’ hard-to-find beer maker’s additives could be found on a street corner in Kensington, right off East Gurney Street.” So when I asked him what the name of the homebrew shop is called, he laughed again and said: “It’s not a brick and mortar shop! Just go to the intersection’s street corner after midnight, and look for a guy called ‘Krunch-E’ and his friend ‘Froot-Loops’.”

…After driving an hour, I pulled up to the intersection my friend told me about. I rolled down my window and asked the two gentlemen dressed all in black standing there in the shadows if they knew where I could find ‘Krunch-E’. The one gentleman barks out in a stern voice: “What u want, mother-f’er!?”. (I guess he was having a bad day) I told him about my desires to make the finest beer for an upcoming competition, so I started by asking him if he had and Campden tablets. He reached in his pocket and handed me six white tablets that he called “E”, and said: “This is the S*%^t they sell in Camden, *****! What else you want?!” Knowing that I had to sanitize my brewing materials, I asked Mr. ‘Krunch-E’ if he had an acid-based sanitizing solution like Star-San. He said he had “the acid” and handed me a very small bottle with a dropper in it. I told him that I found his small bottle to be insufficient, but he assured me that I only needed one drop under my tongue to “do the trick”. “Now, what else?” said Krunch-E. “Do you have any adjuncts?” I asked. After much profanity, he told me that he had stuff called ‘Black-Tar’, and all I had to do was “cook it on a spoon and inject it”. Though I thought that was strange to use in a nitrogen injection system, I just took his word for it. After that, I knew I needed hops. I asked him if he had any, but he just replied: “Hops?! U sh^t-n me?” “I don’t believe so. “ I explained. “You know, the green stuff in the small plastic bags.” I said. “Ooooh, is that what you call it?” With that, Krunch-E reaches into his pocket and pulls out, what he called a “Dime-Bag” that was grown up in the hills of Jamaica. Mmmm, imported hops! My lucky day! Thought it didn’t look like hops I had used in the past, I could wait to toss this into my boiling kettle. “Anything else, Cracker?!” he rudly exclaims. I told him I wasn’t hungry, but I do need some tubing. He rolled his eyes, and said: “Pipe? Yeah I got one.” and he handed me this small glass object that had an oddly placed small bowl on the end of it. I asked him, “What do I do with this?” Krunch-E replied: “You put crack in it fooooool!!!” I told him: “I am very careful with my equipment, and I wouldn’t ever think of putting a crack in it!” I gave him the money and quickly drove home to start my beer.

…After following his explicit directions I made my brew, and I’m pleased to say I knocked the judges socks off, and I won the “War Of The Worts” competition.

Thanks Krunch-E!!!

:p
 
thats good stuff. did you carbonate with n20

Nah, I went with a more traditional method. Krunch-E sold me this white powder in a bag after I asked him if he had any Priming Sugar. He said it's what they used to put in Coca-Cola. At $2,000/once it should leave my beer with a wonderful effervescence.

:mug:
 
Does anyone know if the water profile from the op is still accurate? In beersmith there is a section under water profiles for bicarbonate(hc03). I'm not sure what gets filled in there. Also, what effect does filtering through a faucet pure filter do to the mineral composition? I have a pur filter (there are actually 2 filters you can use, 1 that is just a carbon filter, the other has added minerals "for taste"). I'm using the carbon without minerals.
 
I checked the published numbers in my recent water report and they were very close. I haven't called the water dept since my original inquiry a few years ago to try to get the unpublished numbers. I have been modifying the original numbers with great success up to today.
 
Does anyone know if the water profile from the op is still accurate? In beersmith there is a section under water profiles for bicarbonate(hc03). I'm not sure what gets filled in there. Also, what effect does filtering through a faucet pure filter do to the mineral composition? I have a pur filter (there are actually 2 filters you can use, 1 that is just a carbon filter, the other has added minerals "for taste"). I'm using the carbon without minerals.


Bump, I was wondering the same things about the bicarbonate and if these numbers were still fairly accurate. I also run my water through a filter, I may just send a sample to Ward Labs.
 
Re-bump. Recently moved to Fairmount and I was wondering if anybody had an updated one for Baxter.

I also run my water through a whole-house filter. What aspects of the profile would this change?
 
Re-bump. Recently moved to Fairmount and I was wondering if anybody had an updated one for Baxter.

I also run my water through a whole-house filter. What aspects of the profile would this change?

Are you sure Fairmount is the Baxter plant? That area seems to be coming from the Queen Lane plant.

Anybody else have trouble with unfiltered tap water (treated with campden) creating off flavors in the bottle? I just switched back to tap water and I'm having issues, bottled water gave me no trouble.
 
Are you sure Fairmount is the Baxter plant? That area seems to be coming from the Queen Lane plant.

Anybody else have trouble with unfiltered tap water (treated with campden) creating off flavors in the bottle? I just switched back to tap water and I'm having issues, bottled water gave me no trouble.

Yup, you're totally right. It is QL. I use tap water, but unfort I have a whole house filter, so my experience probably doesn't help you much. I will say though, that Philly historically has great brewing water and I haven't heard of other people from my HBC having what they thought were water related issues.

What flavors are you getting?
 
I actually just started a thread here so I could explain the details better. Probably best to continue the conversation there if you have any input, but I'll state my issues below too in case somebody else gets the same quirky issue as me.

I can't describe it well, and the few people that have tasted it gave different descriptions. I vary between plasticy/medicinal/metallic and due to its timing, think it has something to do with carbonation, so possibly carbonic bite. The beers are not over-carbed though.
 
Sorry to drudge up an old thread, but I'm in Philly on the Baxter plant as well. For those of you brewing hoppy beer, what do you do to the water?

I've been using part of a crushed campden tablet, but my hoppy beers have been lacking significant hop flavor. Once I tried adding some gypsum but I didn't notice a difference. I don't think it's the recipes. They're all heavily biased to late/whirlpool additions and dry hop, but they just kind of feel flat and boring. I don't really know what it could be other than the water. I do BIAB.

So my questions are is campden enough or do I really need to filter? If so, is there such a thing as too much campden? Should I use a whole tab even for 7-8 gallons of water?

And do you typically add gypsum (or anything else) to the Baxter water? How much per gallon for a hoppy beer?
 
Did you used to make better hoppy beers with a different water source or a different method?

You seem to be paying enough attention to the water quality, but have you considered mash ph or oxidation. I get the feeling that hoppy beers are much more sensitive to these factors. Do you keg? Many people mention that their hoppy beers suddenly became much better when switching from bottling to kegging.
 
Did you used to make better hoppy beers with a different water source or a different method?

You seem to be paying enough attention to the water quality, but have you considered mash ph or oxidation. I get the feeling that hoppy beers are much more sensitive to these factors. Do you keg? Many people mention that their hoppy beers suddenly became much better when switching from bottling to kegging.

I've only done 3 all grain batches and I've used the same water for all of them (Philly water from the Baxter plant treated with campden). I haven't filtered it because I only have a Brita and it would take forever to filter that much water.

I don't have PH testing equipment so it could be that. I thought that was more for the mash efficiency, which hasn't been giving me problems? I also bottle, but I'm trying to get a kegging setup going. So could be oxidation, but with my current setup I don't think I can do anymore to control oxidation at this point. I've been doing primary only so the only transfers are to the bottling bucket and then to the bottles. And I guess dry hopping could introduce oxygen as well.
 
I've only done 3 all grain batches and I've used the same water for all of them (Philly water from the Baxter plant treated with campden). I haven't filtered it because I only have a Brita and it would take forever to filter that much water.



I don't have PH testing equipment so it could be that. I thought that was more for the mash efficiency, which hasn't been giving me problems? I also bottle, but I'm trying to get a kegging setup going. So could be oxidation, but with my current setup I don't think I can do anymore to control oxidation at this point. I've been doing primary only so the only transfers are to the bottling bucket and then to the bottles. And I guess dry hopping could introduce oxygen as well.


Get a water spreadsheet like Bru'n Water and drop on your water profile and recipe. Always have pH in the 5.2-5.5 range, I always shoot for the low end. Get lactic acid and a baby dropper syringe to measure it out.

I have two different hoppy beer profiles. My more traditional hop bite one is 100ppm Ca, 150ppm SO4, 50ppm Cl. Recently I've gone to 100ppm Ca, 75ppm SO4, 150ppm Cl. This one adds a rounder flavor to the beer and I feel accentuates the fruitiness of late addition hops rather than sheer bitterness. FWIW, that later profile tastes like Tired Hands beer if you've had them.
 

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