Ward Labs Report Flint MI Well Water

[kpot2004]

Just got my Ward Labs report for my well water. What do the experts think? I have brewed about 10 all grain batches so far and would like to start tweaking my water to improve my beer. Out of all my batches brewed so far, the best was a Saison that I scored 39 on.

pH 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 570
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.95
Cations / Anions, me/L 10.1 / 10.6
ppm
Sodium, Na 137
Potassium, K 3
Calcium, Ca 47
Magnesium, Mg 20
Total Hardness, CaCO3 201
Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 18
Chloride, Cl 189
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 250
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 205
Total Phosphorus, P 0.45
Total Iron, Fe 0.21
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[ajdelange]

The probable reason no one has commented so far is that your water is not particularly noteworthy especially in terms of the options available to home brewers today. Yes, there are some problems:
1. High alkalinity
2. High sodium
3. High sulfate (may or may not be a problem depending on what you are brewing)
4. Marginally high chloride
5. Marginally high iron

In the past you would have been given advice on how to deal with these and which styles of beer you can and cannot brew with water like this but today people will simply tell you this isn't the best water for brewing and not to use it. Instead most would probably advise a trip to the Home Depot (or similar store) for the purchase of an RO system (<$150) which will remove 95-99% of the minerals from the water. Any style of beer can be brewed with RO water supplemented with salts per the guidance of the Primer in the stickies here and/or one of the several available spreadsheets.

 

[Homercidal]

I would cut that with RO water to start with, but it depends on what style of beer you are brewing. I'm guessing you could make a pretty nice stout.

For any reasonably light style, the RO system mentioned above makes good Cents.

Also, if you like IN Flint, I'd call and find out if there are any Chlorine or Chloramine added to your water. It may not be very noticeable until it's fermented. In that case you'd also have to treat with campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) or buy RO water anyway to get away from the bad flavor it can impart.

 

[cwheel]

I had no idea that much Chloride could be present in well water! Learn something new every day

 

[Homercidal]

Oh, didn't notice it was well water. Likely no chlorines then.

 

[ajdelange]

I had no idea that much Chloride could be present in well water! Learn something new every day

There are huge underground deposits of Halite all over the place. Another possibility is runoff in places where they salt the roads heavily in winter and especially where the salt in stored outside in huge, unprotected piles. That's not done much any more.

 

[kpot2004]

Thanks guys, I might just have to build up my water from distilled.