Kansas City, KS water report

Hello All!

I've been extract brewing for about 2.5 years and am looking to make the jump to AG. I'm planning on using the BIAB method and since I live in a small apartment I will be forced to brew 2.5 gal batches or dilute my wort down with additional water to make 5 gal. (yes, I understand the shortcomings of this technique including hop utilization issues, etc. but this is what I have to work with and I know it won't make bad beer.)

Now, on to the question: Along with switching to AG I'd like to begin using my tap water instead of buying bottled water for every batch. The tap water in KCK is not very good for brewing. My main issue is that I don't have a mind for science and am having a difficult time figuring out how to adjust my tap water in order to use it for brewing. This is the link to KCK's water report for 2011 as well as the mineral report:

https://www.bpu.com/documents/reports/2011_Water Quality Report PDF.pdf and https://www.bpu.com/documents/reports/MINERALS 2011.xls

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I live in Overland Park and we use WaterOne. I have a feeling the water in KC, KS may be close to the same as Overland Park. We are not that far apart.

On that chart in the attachment you linked to, I think you want to look at the "average detected" column for your numbers.

I'm in the same process of figuring the water chemistry out. I will compare WaterOne's numbers to the numbers you posted. If they are close, maybe we can work together to figure this out for our area.

I'd say try it out and treat it with 1/2 campden tablet per 5 gallons of water. I just add it to my pots as my water is heating up. make a small batch like you're talking about and see how it turns out.

I compared numbers between Overland Park and Kansas City, KS, and there are some differences - most of the numbers are close, but the major differences are:

Alkalinity: KC = 213, OP = 62

PH: KC = 7.43, OP = 9.5

Total Hardness: KC = 330, OP = 127

So, I was hoping we could share info on water treatment, but this leads me to believe that we cannot. I think you will end up having to treat yours a little differently than mine. But, I could be wrong, still learning.

It looks like I might need to bring empty jugs to some random houses in OP at 2:30 AM and fill up from the outside spout. Maybe I can sneak over to Boulevard; they're only about 1.5 miles from my apartment. Surely they have water that is brewing quality.

That's a good point about boulevard! I need to sign up for their brewery tour again and ask some water questions...

Water One and KCMO water are from the same source (Missouri River) and similarly treated.

KCK water is obviously a different source, likely groundwater.

KCMO/OP water is good for brewing in the sense that the alkalinity is low, but for most of my brewing I believe the sulfate to be too high so I use RO water.

According to the water report that I linked to above, KCK also uses the Missouri River as its water source and it claims to have interconnections with KCMO and WaterOne. Maybe the treatment plant just adds a lot to the water before it hits the pipelines?

From my limited reading on the subject, I had the same thought - sulfate was too high in the local water.

When I plug the WaterOne numbers into John Palmers spreadsheet, it tells me that that the local water tends to produce more bitter hop taste in beers.

I need to go back and read up on impact of sulfate on beer. I can't remember right now.

And, it must be that KCKS is doing something different to the water. The PH differences between WaterOne and KCKS are high according to the reports.

I have played around in a couple of different water spreadsheet/calculators using WaterOne numbers. It seems the easiest way to truly adjust the water is to dilute 85% or go 100% RO Water and add back in some minerals to the profile you want. I came to this conclusing playing with the dilution percentage, then adding additions in grams to see how the numbers play out. It was a challenge because adjustments in one area affect other areas. I need to devote some more time to really studying the water primers. So, far I have just skimmed the info that is out there.

How do you feel about the chloramine numbers? I have similar levels in my area, but don't know if I'm going to need to treat my water for chloramines before brewing. Searching and google aren't helpful.

I think I'll just stick with distilled or RO water and add whatever minerals I need to get the water profile that I want. I was hoping that wouldn't be the conclusion but it could be worse.

darksin: You definitely want to do something about the chloramine. I'd suggest adding 1/2 of a campden tablet to your water before the boil. You might even be able to get away with using 1/3.

Anyone have any more information on this?

I'm new to the KC area and have been brewing for a bit more than a year with a good dozen batches under my belt. I'm just starting into AG and would prefer to stop buying gallons of spring water at HyVee. RO is one of the ways I was thinking of going but that involves more planning than I prefer.

I'm setting up a batch for this week, I think, and was planning on doing tap water with 1 campden tablet for 10 gallons.

Campden takes care of the chlorine, right?