Does water chemistry stay constant?

[Bill Tong]

I have been using spring water (collected from a local spring) for brewing up to now. I want to start looking into water chemistry, so I am going to obtain a water report.

My question is, does water chemistry of a particular source change over time? Or can i get the report and then assume the water will always be exactly as per the report?

 

[Vale71]

My question is, does water chemistry of a particular source change over time?

Usually yes.

Or can i get the report and then assume the water will always be exactly as per the report?

You'd be doing it at your own risk (see above).

 

[Jtvann]

Bru’n water used to hit my pH estimate dead on shortly after I got my water report. Over the last 1.5 years it has drifted to where I am coming in consistently low by .1 on my pH.

If you’ve got a non city water source, I’d expect it to be more stable, but it can still drift over time.

 

[mabrungard]

Whether a source's quality changes over time, depends on the water source. If its a surface water source, yes it can change markedly. But if its a groundwater source that is massive, then that water quality is likely to be very consistent. If it's a municipal source, they typically try and keep the water quality in a small band, but that may be impossible if they draw from multiple sources.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, my primary house has a 120' artisan well that has proved to be stable as Gibraltar wrt mineral content and pH. Otoh, my second home has a 20' dug well, and over the course of even a single year is comparatively all over the map. Last September, for example, we had a full pH point drop while the bicarbonate contribution went 100ppm in the opposite direction, both from the last prior reading in May of the same year...

Cheers!

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I have been using spring water (collected from a local spring)

Does this mean that you collect the water yourself or that you are purchasing commercial bottled spring water? If it is commercial, I would expect them to do some monitoring and adjustments...or they could just filter it and call it good.