water poll

[fluketamer]

hi everyone. i filter my tap with a brita. what do you all use.

thanks for any responces .

 

[mac_1103]

I think I've used all of the above at one time or another. Bought a Zero Water filter to try out on my next brew, and finally found one of those bulk RO dispensers at a relatively nearby store (a Whole Foods of all things). $0.39/gallon so I'll probably give that a whirl at some point too.

 

[Agent]

With 360ppm bicarbonate, you better believe everything but the most imperial stouts use RO water around here.

 

[DonT]

My tapwater contains cloromine so for a while I was buying jugs of spring water, then I switched to the RO water dispenser at the grocery store and added salts. Last year I bought an RO system from Buckeye Hydro and I haven't looked back....

 

[CascadesBrewer]

hi everyone. i filter my tap with a brita. what do you all use.

I am not positive what "chemically treated tap" means, but I picked that. I use my tap with some campden or other treatment to remove chlorine and chloramine. I usually add some salts, and acid for pH adjustment.

I have seen mixed info on what a Brita does. A fresh filter probably does okay at removing chlorine and (maybe?) chloramine. The Brita cartridge do some ion exchange to slightly soften water (remove Calcium, maybe Magnesium). A note by James Hoffmann (a coffee guy) says "Brita filters exchange hydrogen ions, not sodium ions. Lots of commercial filters use sodium and lots use hydrogen."

 

[fluketamer]

I am not positive what "chemically treated tap" means, but I picked that. I use my tap with some campden or other treatment to remove chlorine and chloramine. I usually add some salts, and acid for pH adjustment.

I have seen mixed info on what a Brita does. A fresh filter probably does okay at removing chlorine and (maybe?) chloramine. The Brita cartridge do some ion exchange to slightly soften water (remove Calcium, maybe Magnesium). A note by James Hoffmann (a coffee guy) says "Brita filters exchange hydrogen ions, not sodium ions. Lots of commercial filters use sodium and lots use hydrogen."

yeah i meant with a campden tablet.
i should have clarified.
i have heard the brita carbon filter removes chlorine and chloramine. but not sure. thats why i filter my water . i think my tap has a lot of both .
i have to get my water tested. the brita water is making good beer for me but its very slow and the filters are expensive and i run through them,.
i have brewed with poland spring unadjusted and it also makes good beer for me but is more expensive than the brita.
i am thinking of getting a carbon filter for the tap but i think i would be replacing those as often as brita.

trying to improve or at least nail down my water sourcing. i wish we had the whole foods ro water in nyc for 39 cents a gallon that would solve a lot of problems for me.

 

[Want2Brew]

I used to brew wit water that was boarding on spring water so I had to blend it with RO and then adjust with brewing salts. I’ve since changed locations and the water is pretty good for brewing right out of the tap so it gets filled (very well) and perhaps a bit of gypsum and it’s good to go.

 

[BeerAndTele]

Bottled (distilled) water here. Blank slate, baby.

Quite easy with small batches. If I brewed large batches, I might re-think it.

Cheers.

 

[IslandLizard]

○ chemically treated tap​

Our municipal tap water is very soft, with very low mineral content. I only add a small amount of K-Meta to remove the Chlorine.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

All tap, all day. It matters a lot where you're from. Other places I've lived had good to great tap water. Where I am now has really good water, so I'm sticking with tap for now.

I've tried treating and RO with no discernable result from straight tap.

 

[day_trippr]

I would have to use quite a lot of acid to counter my well water alkalinity, so I installed a 100gpd RO system years ago and never look back...

Cheers!

 

[jerrylotto]

Whole house sediment and carbon filter in series removes trace chlorine and monochloride.

 

[Rockman]

My tap water is pretty good. When it fits the profile I need, I'll use it. If not, then RO water.

 

[faithie999]

I have wondered for a long time what a Brita pitcher-style filter cartridge actually does, and this topic spurred me to do a little googling.
There are some nebulous references to "ion exchange" resin in some of the brita filters, but they are in reference to "heavy metal" removal, not having any effect on hardness (although maybe some of the brita filter products do some softening but I couldn't find a specific citation).
here is a link to the best article I found in a few minutes of searching. the "standard" brita pitcher filter appears to remove particulates, chlorine, chloramine, and "improve taste". the "Longlast" removes some heavy metals and organics, and the "Longlast+" looks to be the most effective, but again no claims about softening.
https://purewaterblog.com/what-does-a-brita-filter-remove-is-your-drinking-water-safe/

 

[balrog]

I'm the same as @IslandLizard , as I luckily have very low mineral local tapwater. Treat with Campden (pottasium metabisulfite), and add other salts to preference.

 

[Neldog0]

hi everyone. i filter my tap with a brita. what do you all use.

thanks for any responces .

I filt

hi everyone. i filter my tap with a brita. what do you all use.

thanks for any responces .

i filter chlorine as I fill my brita, then use that filtered water.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Since I see no other similar response, I’m using a Berkey. A bit pricey compared to a Brita, but a dual filter model is good for 6K gallons, making it fairly cheap in the long run.
My biggest weakness with brewing is water chemistry; essentially, I do nothing. My beer is good, and no one complains, but I wonder what it could be.
Can anyone direct me to a basic primer. I am not interested in being a chemist; I just want to brew good beer.

 

[IslandLizard]

My biggest weakness with brewing is water chemistry; essentially, I do nothing. My beer is good, and no one complains, but I wonder what it could be.
Can anyone direct me to a basic primer. I am not interested in being a chemist; I just want to brew good beer.

The Bru'n Water site has the information on water and water chemistry you need, as well as a brewing water calculator.
Even if you understand all of it, you can still use the calculator and compose your brewing water.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Can anyone direct me to a basic primer.

If you are starting with RO water, "Water Chemistry – How to Build Your Water – Bertus Brewery" (link) is one starting point.

eta: this article is often referred to as the "Cliff Notes" for various forum topics.

 

[day_trippr]

Check out this thread...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/
Cheers!

 

[fluketamer]

Check out this thread...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/
Cheers!

i was just about to post yoopers thread but you beat me too it.

 

[MaxStout]

Our municipal water is fairly hard and contains iron. After growing tired of schlepping jugs to and from the store (and not knowing how effective the filters are in their bulk water machines), I bought an RO system from @Buckeye_Hydro several years ago. It's served me flawlessly since.

The $15 or so for a TDS meter is cheap insurance for you to monitor your RO output from time to time.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

There are some nebulous references to "ion exchange" resin in some of the brita filters, but they are in reference to "heavy metal" removal, not having any effect on hardness (although maybe some of the brita filter products do some softening but I couldn't find a specific citation).

The same site has this article that says that Brita filters do not remove hardness (lower Calcium or Magnesium).
https://purewaterblog.com/do-brita-filters-remove-hardness-what-you-need-to-know/

 

[fluketamer]

thanks for all the replies . 44 people responded a little over a third use RO. few people use bottled.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

Whole house sediment and carbon filter in series removes trace chlorine and monochloride.

There are four standard filter cartridge sizes - two lengths (10" and 20"), and two different diameters (2.5" and 4.5"). What sizes are your "whole house" filters?

 

[jerrylotto]

There are four standard filter cartridge sizes - two lengths (10" and 20"), and two different diameters (2.5" and 4.5"). What sizes are your "whole house" filters?

A 5 micron sediment filter and an activated carbon filter in series. Bothe are 9.75" x4.5".

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

That carbon block is likely spec'ed at a flow of about 3.5 gpm for chlorine (not chloramine) treatment with a chlorine capacity of 12,000 gallons (meaning that after 12,000 gals it will be removing less than 50% of the chlorine). That flow is pretty slow for a whole house application but would handle the situation if you only had a single faucet/outlet open.

I cringe when I see many people using an itty bitty 10" x 2.5" filter in a whole house situation - especially a carbon block - as it is too small for the application.

 

[whoaru99]

Our tap water is extremely hard. I bought a used 0.5 gal/hour Pure Water A-12 distiller some years back and used that for a while but don't really have the plumbing set up properly for its waste water/drain.

So, given I don't brew too much these days, I've been buying water machine water they claim is RO water for $0.25 per gallon, then doing basic treatment on that.