Merging two hobbies, RO/DI & Beer

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Snafu

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Been brewing for many years, but just started up a reefing hobby (and you thought brewing gadgets got pricey) well I bought a 5 stage 75gpd RO/DI unit that I'm thinking of using to brew with also. I always send out a sample to wards every year or so and its always different results. I'm sure the issue is with my county water and not with wards. I'm thinking with a ro/di unit I will always have a constant starting point. I would rather not modify my ro/di because monkeying around with these things just makes stuff leak. Should I send out a sample to get tested to get my baseline or will everything just be zero? Anyone else doing this?
 
Been brewing for many years, but just started up a reefing hobby (and you thought brewing gadgets got pricey) well I bought a 5 stage 75gpd RO/DI unit that I'm thinking of using to brew with also. I always send out a sample to wards every year or so and its always different results. I'm sure the issue is with my county water and not with wards. I'm thinking with a ro/di unit I will always have a constant starting point. I would rather not modify my ro/di because monkeying around with these things just makes stuff leak. Should I send out a sample to get tested to get my baseline or will everything just be zero? Anyone else doing this?

I've been a reefer for 25 years. Sorta got out of it when my tank crashed about 3 years ago (lost most coral, fish are OK), but in the last few weeks I've been messing with it again.

I've got an RO/DI that feeds a makeup water tank. That tank gravity feeds into my sump through a float valve. Maybe that sounds complex, but it's not, and it keeps my tank full all the time (I've got metal halides and VHO actinics and I get a ton of evaporation).

I've never measured the content of the RO/DI output. I have used that water for brewing pilsners. Can't tell you if it improved anything. My pilsners are just meh.
 
All you really need is a TDS meter. It's more a thumbs-up / thumbs-down approach to your RO membrane than knowing exact numbers. Low or not-low.

Know your baseline TDS and shoot for <5% from the RO. The DI should put you at 0 or 1 (ppm, not %), but I'd also take a sample after the RO to see how the membrane is performing and what kind of demand you're putting on the DI filters as well.
 
You definitely don't need DI water, but RO is a good starting point. To avoid exhausting your DI resins prematurely, you could probably insert a tee in the RO product line with a valve and draw RO water off for brewing. That would be a very consistent source with known quality (essentially zero) to which you can add minerals for brewing water. The recommendations of the Water Primer in this forum are applicable excepting for the occasional need to add alkalinity for grists with high crystal or roast content.
 
I have a dual TDS meter on it, I don't check the incoming water much but I think its around 5 but the water (out) going to my holding tank is 0.

I'll look into placing a tee prior to the DI chamber when I get home, but there's no real harm in using the DI filter right? I've already done up one batch using it. Anyone know what the water is that comes out the waste line of the ro/di?
 
I have a dual TDS meter on it, I don't check the incoming water much but I think its around 5 but the water (out) going to my holding tank is 0.

I'll look into placing a tee prior to the DI chamber when I get home, but there's no real harm in using the DI filter right? I've already done up one batch using it. Anyone know what the water is that comes out the waste line of the ro/di?

No harm at in in using DI water. Its just unnecessary to get brewing water that mineral-free. You do want those minerals in your brewing water and will likely add some back in. The utility of RO water is that you know about what those ion concentrations are and can rely on that relatively 'clean slate'.

The waste water has the same ions as your feed water, excepting at higher concentrations. Since high or variable ionic concentrations are what you are trying to avoid by using RO water, the waste water is of little use. In some cases, the water can be so mineralized that it will kill plants if used for watering.
 
I save the waste water to pump through my plate chiller on brew day to cool wort. I figure the occasional plate chiller soak in star san reduces scale buildup from using the RO waste brine.

In my water calculations, I treat the RO water as distilled. TDS meters show it around 2-3 ppm, but my new membrane has only been used for about 5 batches and to filter humidifier water for Virginia winters.
 
No harm at in in using DI water. Its just unnecessary to get brewing water that mineral-free. You do want those minerals in your brewing water and will likely add some back in. The utility of RO water is that you know about what those ion concentrations are and can rely on that relatively 'clean slate'.

The waste water has the same ions as your feed water, excepting at higher concentrations. Since high or variable ionic concentrations are what you are trying to avoid by using RO water, the waste water is of little use. In some cases, the water can be so mineralized that it will kill plants if used for watering.

Martin, since I use your software to brew by, would you suggest setting all my ions to zero? The last batch I did I just "fooled" the program by use 100% dilution RO water, but not all the values defaulted to zero like they do when I select distilled. Whats the best way for me to set up the software?
 
I've been a reefer for 25 years. Sorta got out of it when my tank crashed about 3 years ago (lost most coral, fish are OK), but in the last few weeks I've been messing with it again.

I've got an RO/DI that feeds a makeup water tank. That tank gravity feeds into my sump through a float valve. Maybe that sounds complex, but it's not, and it keeps my tank full all the time (I've got metal halides and VHO actinics and I get a ton of evaporation).

I've never measured the content of the RO/DI output. I have used that water for brewing pilsners. Can't tell you if it improved anything. My pilsners are just meh.

Its an awesome hobby, I could only get the SWMBO to bless off on a 29gal bicube, but its stuffed with lots of colorful zoas, acans, rics and such. Just started adding a bunch of SPS, so now I've gotten more complicated because now I have to dose 2 part, but its still fun. I'm running halides also with blue moon leds at night so I hear ya on the evaporation, going through about 3-4 gals of makeup water a week. Plus the weekly 5 gal water change. I tried out a pheonix bulb and really really liked it but I didn't have any kind of uv protection so I ended up blasting everything on the top 1/3 of the tank, so now I'm saving up for some LEDs, those are going to set me back about 600 bucks. :drunk: But I sure love the hobby, wife gets a little jealous cause I spend alot of time just watching it and not her. lol
 
Martin, since I use your software to brew by, would you suggest setting all my ions to zero? The last batch I did I just "fooled" the program by use 100% dilution RO water, but not all the values defaulted to zero like they do when I select distilled. Whats the best way for me to set up the software?


I would probably set it to distilled unless the software has the option for a custom water profile (like Beersmith).

I also have aquaria and we use a Kent Marine three stage full post cati/ani system for it. We went with that system because of the need to remove phosphates and high silicates from our water, something most R/O membranes don't handle that well. That, plus it produces no waste water and it can make 300+ gallons of product water a day. Very fast and efficient, and I can re-charge the media with muriatic acid (pool store). With my hydroponic grade, multi probe pH/TDS meter, it reads absolutely zero dissolved solids and pH 7.0 every time.

For beer though, I don't need water anywhere near that pure. I usually will use a 50/50% mix of filtered water to tap water for my brewing needs to ensure that the yeasts get what they need. I also mix in a little yeast nutrient just to be safe. Seems to work pretty great doing it this way.
 
Its an awesome hobby, I could only get the SWMBO to bless off on a 29gal bicube, but its stuffed with lots of colorful zoas, acans, rics and such. Just started adding a bunch of SPS, so now I've gotten more complicated because now I have to dose 2 part, but its still fun. I'm running halides also with blue moon leds at night so I hear ya on the evaporation, going through about 3-4 gals of makeup water a week. Plus the weekly 5 gal water change. I tried out a pheonix bulb and really really liked it but I didn't have any kind of uv protection so I ended up blasting everything on the top 1/3 of the tank, so now I'm saving up for some LEDs, those are going to set me back about 600 bucks. :drunk: But I sure love the hobby, wife gets a little jealous cause I spend alot of time just watching it and not her. lol

Yep. I'm travelling right now, but when I get back I'm replacing my fluorescent VHO actinics with a 48" Reefbright LED strip. My big push now is to get my temps down before summer comes. I'm trying to avoid a chiller. I'd love to go 100% LEDs, but I don't trust the spectrum content.

Yes, metal halides without the glass cover to suppress some of the deep UV is going to bleach the corals at the top. Phoenix lamps are supposedly the best, and I've got them in now, but I've had great luck with Hamilton also.
 
To say that DI and Distilled water are the same is not exactly the truth.

http://www.distilleddeionizedwater.com/deionized-water-vs-distilled-water/

I too have a reef tank at home (135 and 29 biocube). I have considered using my DI water to brew with adding the proper elements back in to achieve a custom profile for the region of the beer I am brewing. You are actually better off starting with RO/DI or Distilled water than just RO as an RO unit can leave salts and potassium at levels that are unknown unless you can test for them. You can also get a water report for your area from the water supplier and start there with some of the available charts that are available.

On a the LED subject.. You should check out www.buildmyled.com. They are a new business here in Austin, TX that specialize in horticulture and reef tank lighting. They are actually pretty affordable for what you get. I could have bought new fixtures at near the price as I built my own LED lighting.. You should be able to light that 29 Biocube for right around $130 with a custom spectrum of light..

-Jake
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