Water Report Help

[O.L.D.B.B.A]

Thank you for reading,
New brewer trying to scratch the surface of water chemistry. Simply want BeerSmith to have the correct profile for my Tap Water. Got my water report from the county (I am in Glencoe, Ontario Canada). Seeing a whole lot of info but not the info I believe I need. Can't find any numbers on Calcium, Magnesium, sulfate, etc. The only one I can find is Sodium (14 mg/L). If I am correct, 14Mg/L = 14 ppm, is this correct?

Thank You in Advance for any input.


Turbidity (Rack 1) 8760 0.01 – 0.71 ntu
Turbidity (Rack 2) 8760 0.01 – 7.98* ntu
Turbidity (Rack 3) 8760 0.01 – 0.53 ntu
Turbidity (Rack 4) 8760 0.01 – 1.14* ntu
Free Chlorine
(Primary Disinfection) 8760 0.48 – 3.11 mg/L
Free Chlorine
(Secondary
Disinfection)
8760 0.38 – 2.60 mg/L
Free Chlorine
(Distribution—Grab) 416 0.70 – 2.15 mg/L

Suspended Solids
2017-04-21 - 6 (mg/L)
2017-01-03 - 15 (mg/L)
2017-04-03 - 7 (mg/L)
2017-07-04 - 44 (mg/L)
2017-10-02

Avg.: 18
mg/L


Antimony: Sb (ug/L) - 0.18
Arsenic: As (ug/L) - 1.0
Barium: Ba (ug/L) - 21.9
Boron: B (ug/L) - 18.0
Cadmium: Cd (ug/L) - 0.009
Chromium: Cr (ug/L) - 0.7
Mercury: Hg (ug/L) - 0.01
Selenium: Se (ug/L) - 0.2
Uranium: U (ug/L) - 0.363

Additional Inorganics

Fluoride (mg/L) - 0.11
Nitrite (mg/L) - 0.003
Nitrite (mg/L) - 0.003
Nitrite (mg/L) - 0.003
Nitrite (mg/L) - 0.003
Nitrate (mg/L) - 0.23
Nitrate (mg/L) - 0.21
Nitrate (mg/L) - 0.212
Nitrate (mg/L) - 0.132
Sodium: Na (mg/L) - 14.5

Alkalinity (mg/L) 90 - 119
pH 7.65 - 7.88


Alachlor (ug/L) - 0.02
Atrazine + N-dealkylated
metabolites (ug/L) - 0.07 o
Azinphos-methyl (ug/L) - L 0.05
Benzene (ug/L) - 0.32
Benzo(a)pyrene (ug/L) - L 0.004
Bromoxynil (ug/L) - 0.33
Carbaryl (ug/L) - 0.05
Carbofuran (ug/L) - 0.01
Carbon Tetrachloride (ug/L) - 0.16
Chlorpyrifos (ug/L) - 0.02
Diazinon (ug/L) - 0.02



Total THM 50.75 ug/L Annual Average

 

[McKnuckle]

This seems to be a report aimed primarily at measuring toxic components, hence all of the scary chemicals and metals. The only thing moderately useful is that it states alkalinity, which in your case is moderately high (requiring acidification for most styles). Agreed that this report does not contain most of the important components for brewing.

 

[O.L.D.B.B.A]

This seems to be a report aimed primarily at measuring toxic components, hence all of the scary chemicals and metals. The only thing moderately useful is that it states alkalinity, which in your case is moderately high (requiring acidification for most styles). Agreed that this report does not contain most of the important components for brewing.

Thank you,

Do water reports generally contain the brewing relevant numbers, or do I have to have the water analysed myself?

 

[McKnuckle]

The definitive answer is "sometimes." I know that's not helpful. Reports that I've seen posted here are all over the place. A Ward Labs brewing analysis is the de facto standard for home brewers in the U.S.

As you probably know, you want to see Ca, Mg, Na, SO4, Cl, and alkalinity on the report.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Thank you,

Do water reports generally contain the brewing relevant numbers, or do I have to have the water analysed myself?

My water company provides a public report with info like you list. I have not contacted them to see if they provide a more detailed report, though people say that a report of the water out of your tap is more accurate than the general water for the county. I sent off for a Ward Lab's report myself, and I plan to contact my water company at some point to see what they provide.

Should one be concerned that Uranium is not reported as "below detectable limits"???

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Toronto water is listed as (from https://www.gtabrews.ca/toronto-water-profile/ )
Calcium 37ppm
Magnesium 9ppm
Sodium 14ppm
Sulphate 26ppm
Chloride 27ppm
Alkalinity 90ppm

Other sources list similar numbers.

As Toronto is close to you, and would have a similar source, these numbers should be good enough for brewing.

As an aside, and being pedantic, Mg/L means megagrams per litre; mg/L means milligrams per litre which is ppm.

 

[balrog]

0.363 micrograms/L Uranium is amazing that they even measured it.
In the US, our EPA says 30 micrograms/L is safe
You have 0.363 micrograms/L, 1 thousandth of that.

It's cool.