Well Water Report

moomack said:

I got the report for my well water. This is the water that bypasses the softener. I've been reading the primer and have been playing with spreadsheets but I haven't quite gotten those figured out yet. Is this even suitable water to start from for most styles?

pH 7.6

Sodium, Na 6
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca 76
Magnesium, Mg 45
Total Hardness, CaCO3 378
Nitrate, NO3-N 5.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 5
Chloride, Cl 16
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 411
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 337
Total Phosphorus, P 0.71
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01

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ajdelange said:

The water is very hard and is unusual in that the hardness is split about equally between calcium and magnesium. It is alkaline to match and the good news with that is that you can simultaneously remove much of the alkalinity and hardness by treatment with lime or simple boiling. To do this properly is a little tricky and really requires the use of a pH meter and you'll only be able to get rid of a bit more than half the magnesium. A much simpler but more expensive approach is a water softener (which you already have - no surprise there) followed by an RO unit. This will give you a very low mineral content water which you can build up to spec by adding a few salts.

As is it is completely unsuited to brewing.

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