Are my ions too unbalanced

[afr0byte]

So, I'm trying out Bru'n Water (I normally use EZ Water 2.). I input my water profile, and it gives me the warning about my ion ratio being a bit too far from the ideal ratio of 1 (I get 5.4:4.9 cat to anion...or 1.10). This is the same ratio that's listed on the report. The values that the spreadsheet calculates from my inputted values also seem to match the values in the report that I was not asked to input. So, this leads me to believe that the report is probably pretty accurate (Ward Labs). However, I'm wondering, how much should I worry about the other ions that must be missing from the report in order to balance the ions? My water report is below:

pH : 7.1

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est : 277

Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm : .46

Cations / Anions, me/L : 5.4 / 4.9

Sodium, Na : 4

Potassium, K : 5

Calcium, Ca : 87

Magnesium, Mg : 9

Total Hardness, CaCO3 : 255

Nitrate, NO3-N : 1.2 (I multiplied this by 4.43 as suggest by the spreadsheet.)

Sulfate, SO4-S : 7 (I input 21 in the spreadsheet for this.)

Chloride, Cl : 3

Carbonate, CO3 : <1

Bicarbonate, HCO3 : 261

Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 : 214

Fluoride, F : .01

Total Iron, Fe : <.01

 

[ajdelange]

10% is not really all that great and is perhaps a bit higher than I'm used to seeing on Ward Labs reports. There is no way to know what is responsible for this imbalance. It is probably not an unaccounted for ion (heaven forbid it should be nitrite for example) but rather measurement errors. So no point in worrying about it as there is nothing much you can do except call Ward Labs and complain that half a milliequivalent seems like a lot of imbalance to you. Maybe they will spring for a free test. More probably say that at the price you can't expect accuracy much better than this though they usually seem to deliver it. I'm just happy that the spreadsheet developers are now offering balance checking.

 

[mabrungard]

Ward does hundreds of water tests per week. They don't have a lot of time to double check their results and minor errors do occur. Given that, its still possible to utilize this water information with caution. The errors are only going to amount to maybe 10 ppm for a few ions and you can probably live with that.

This is a case of where 'ignorance is bliss' since you would have never known there was a problem if you hadn't used Bru'n Water. That doesn't diminish the problem and eventually you may want to have a second test performed or see if there are results that others have obtained that could help identify where the problem in the report lies.

 

[afr0byte]

I'm not too worried, I just thought I'd ask. My beers have come out well using the profile in the spreadsheet(s). I think the mild I made was one of my favorite beers, including commercial beers (Admittedly I've not tried any commercial milds.). At some point I'll actually get a pH meter, but I'm doing well enough without it at this point, and we want new floors in our new house...so....

 

[afr0byte]

Ward does hundreds of water tests per week. They don't have a lot of time to double check their results and minor errors do occur. Given that, its still possible to utilize this water information with caution. The errors are only going to amount to maybe 10 ppm for a few ions and you can probably live with that.

This is a case of where 'ignorance is bliss' since you would have never known there was a problem if you hadn't used Bru'n Water. That doesn't diminish the problem and eventually you may want to have a second test performed or see if there are results that others have obtained that could help identify where the problem in the report lies.

I may do another one in the next six months, just to see if my water changes much (it's a well). Also since it's a well, and I live in a town of about 4K, I doubt I'd find someone that has a water profile I could compare, but who knows. Thanks for the spreadsheet, btw!