Water Quality WV American Water

I found my local water suppliers (WVa American Water) water quality report. What do you think?

pH 7.3
Alkalinity 61
Calcium 25
Magnesium 8
Sodium 26
Chloride 38
Sulfate 48

Chlorine 1.9ppm

Total Hardness 122ppm


I'm debating sending a sample off of my own to an independent lab. The results posted where from 2010-11

Unremarkable and that's a good thing. You should be able to brew most ales with it as it is with a bit of calcium supplementation via the sulfate if you want sharp hops or chloride if you don't or a mix. Cut it 1:1 for softer water beers and 2:1 (RO:tap) for very soft water beers such as delicate lagers.


And if the chlorine is delivered as chloramine don't forget to add a campden tablet to evey 20 gal you brew with.

I'd send a sample off to Ward Labs given that the cost is so low just to give you an idea about how much an individual sample can deviate from the yearly averages.

Decent water, but the report has an error somewhere. If the hardness value is correct, then the calcium is more likely in the low 30 ppm range. Still fine water to brew with as long as you add a little calcium containing salt to the water to bring it up to at least 40 to 50 ppm.

As AJ said, the sulfate is a little high. But not excessive for many beers.

Enjoy!

You know I was thinking those values were kind of low. I though total hardness was the total of magnesium and calcium. Mine don't add up that way.

if you convert those ionic Ca and Mg concentrations to their values expressed as hardness, they come close to adding up. You can't just add up the ionic concentrations though.