Warmer water - longer chilling time?

I had 5 gallons of wort to chill yesterday and it took much more time (3x +) to cool. I’m guessing the groundwater is much warmer this time of year in NC. Has anyone had problems cooling wort during the summer, and if so, what methods or techniques can I use to cool faster?

Thanks!

you could run the line through an ice bath first to cool the water down

I am studying a way to go around this problem myself. I made a prechiller, didn't work as well as I thought it should yesterday. Got on You Tube and found out that I should have cooled the wort with ground water, get it down, THEN add my ice to the bucket that the prechiller sits in. Makes sense to me. I am looking for any more information along these lines.

Here in AZ the tap water can already be nearly 80*F so I bought a little pond pump and recirculate through my IC. I use tap water to bring the wort down to 110-120*F and then start recirculating. Last weekend it took about 20lbs of ice to bring it from 115*F down into the 70's.

HexKrak said:

Here in AZ the tap water can already be nearly 80*F so I bought a little pond pump and recirculate through my IC. I use tap water to bring the wort down to 110-120*F and then start recirculating. Last weekend it took about 20lbs of ice to bring it from 115*F down into the 70's.

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Same thing here. Sometimes I just give up after 80 and toss it in the chest freezer for a while.

I have a large utility sink and do an ice bath in combination with my Immersion Chiller

HexKrak said:

Here in AZ the tap water can already be nearly 80*F so I bought a little pond pump and recirculate through my IC. I use tap water to bring the wort down to 110-120*F and then start recirculating. Last weekend it took about 20lbs of ice to bring it from 115*F down into the 70's.

Click to expand...

So the pond pump takes water that has been sitting in the sink with ice instead of the faucet? You wouldn't happen to have a photo of this in use?

Boy i'm glad I have spring fed well water....My water is 67-70* all the time!

Thanks, I looked at that Pond Pump idea again last night, shoot it is only another 10-20 bucks, with the garden hose attachments, problem solved. I'll just start saving ice and prechill to under 100, then Pond Pump to 70. All that ice/water goes into the dry dry grass around here in the summer any ways.

HikeNC said:

So the pond pump takes water that has been sitting in the sink with ice instead of the faucet? You wouldn't happen to have a photo of this in use?

Click to expand...

Best pic I have of it in use is here:
http://beer.hexkrak.com/2011/05/21/arrogant-kitteh-v2-second-brew/imag0307/

In recirculation mode the clear hose attaches to the pond pump outlet, and the garden hose returns the water to the bucket with ice, water, and pump.