Tap Water Results

I had my city Send me a report on our water. I don't know which of the contaminants are important for home brew so I was hoping for a little help, it will save my 10 bucks every brew going and buying spring water.

Chlorine is 200 units(not sure how its measured) is said legally it can have 4000

Arsenic 2300
Barium 12-231
copper 0
Lead 0
Fluoride 200-500
Chromium 2-3
Nitrate 200-1600
Selenium 2-5
Sodium 5-38
Sulfate 5-85
Total dissolved solieds 84-421 2000 is the highest legal amount allowed

Haloacetic 5 max allowed 60
Total Trihalomethans 1-11

Alpha Emitters 5-13
(Radium 228) 0-1

Turbidity for ground water 0-3
Total coliform bacteria 2

or if you can direct me to a chart or something that could tell me what I look for in Tap Water for brewing

I am in the process of doing the same with my water. It looks like you will need calcium, magnesium and alkalinity ion concentrations for John Palmers calculator:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-3.html
Or a lot more for the Bru'n Water Calculator.
I am looking at getting my water tested by a lab to get the extra results the county doesn't provide.

TDS 84-421? That's like saying, "This car has a fuel capacity of 5 gallons. Or maybe it's 25 gallons."

Na and SO4 are the only brewing-relevant ions listed, and the ranges are equally obtuse.

The report you have doesn't give you most of the important brewing mineral concentrations. Ward Labs in Nebraska will do a water sample test of your water, specific for brewing, for $16.00. I've sent samples from PA on Monday and had e-mail reports by Friday.

You'll then need to learn a bit about brewing minerals. John Palmer's book is a pretty good place to start.

JakeFegely said:

The report you have doesn't give you most of the important brewing mineral concentrations. Ward Labs in Nebraska will do a water sample test of your water, specific for brewing, for $16.00. I've sent samples from PA on Monday and had e-mail reports by Friday.

You'll then need to learn a bit about brewing minerals. John Palmer's book is a pretty good place to start.

Click to expand...

Can you give us a sample of the results they sent you?

Edit: Never mind, found on their site their test gives lots of information.
http://www.wardlab.com/FeeSchedule/WaterAnalysis.aspx
Thanks, I will be sending in my water to them to get analyzed.

The ranges are because they give the high and low for the month