Atlanta brewers - water treatment

[Raider7296]

I'm curious what other brewers are doing for water treatment in the greater Atlanta area. I'm north of the city and our water comes out of the Chattahoochee river. On paper, it's great for brewing (I'll add my Ward Lab numbers below). The chlorine levels can get pretty ridiculous sometimes (my kettle will smell like a swimming pool before treatment), but metabisulfite takes care of that.

The thing is, I've never thought of the water here as "good water". Like, even filtered from the fridge, it tastes... ok. Not bad, not great either.

I've just been using a campden tablet for the chlorine in my brewing water, but other than that, it's straight out of the tap. Do people around here do anything else? Or do are we blessed with perfect brewing water? An RO system seems like overkill, but would running my brewing water through carbon filter be beneficial?

(I will admit I may be a bit biased having spent time on the brown waters of Lake Oconee. I grew up in the north on a lake where you could see the bottom 30 feet down on a calm day. And the stagnant ponds they call "lakes" here in the suburbs don't give the impression that this is a drinking water Mecca.)


Ward Labs Numbers:
Ca - 7, Mg - 2, Na - 10, Cl - 6, SO4 - 15, HCO3 - 27

 

[VikeMan]

An RO system seems like overkill, but would running my brewing water through carbon filter be beneficial?

Ward Labs Numbers:
Ca - 7, Mg - 2, Na - 10, Cl - 6, SO4 - 15, HCO3 - 27

Your water is already pretty close to RO water. It's a good, almost blank slate for building your water into whatever you want/need for any particular style. In most cases (but depending on the grain bill), you'll need to acidify the mash to get the pH in a good range, either by adding acid (like lactic acid or phosphoric acid) or by adding Calcium Chloride and/or Gypsum. And for most styles, you'll probably want to add some Chlorides (typically via Calcium Chloride) and/or Sulfate (typically via Gypsum) for taste.

Here's a link to a presentation for beginners on Brewing Water Treatment I did a few years ago:
https://sonsofalchemy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Intro-to-Brewing-Water-Treatment.pdf

 

[LCBA]

Also located north of Atlanta - Once I got my ward labs test, I just did my adjustments based on that. No issues here, but I actually think our tap water tastes pretty good. Can’t really tell much difference between filter refrigerator water and what comes out of the sink.

 

[Raider7296]

I wonder if it’s actually the lack of minerals that makes the water here seem so-so to me. I imagine there’s a reason Dasani and the like aren’t selling straight RO water.

 

[cbier60]

I'm in Brookhaven in Dekalb, but I think most of metro Atlanta is very similar - a very clean slate. I do use a carbon filter as well as Campden tablets, since I believe most of our water is treated with Chloramines (which the filter will not remove but Campden does) as opposed to Chlorine. Treat your water as appropriate for what you're brewing. I use Brun Water, but there are many options, some of which may be easier for the beginner.

 

[mabrungard]

I have a cabin near Blairsville, GA which is near the Chattahoochee headwaters. Not surprisingly, that water has very little in it since its pretty much rainwater that's run across hard rock. Yes, it would be silly to run that water through a RO unit. Out of the tap, you should have no problem in brewing any beer style, but that doesn't mean that you won't need to add stuff to that water for brewing.

I recommend visiting the Water Knowledge page at the Bru'n Water website listed below, to gain a better understanding on the Why and How for brewing water.

 

[VikeMan]

We are just using tap water. All good

I'm glad your California tap water is all good. But @Raider7296 is in Atlanta. His water is not all good without additions. I mention this lest @Raider7296 were to take your statement as advice.

Also, there's no untreated water that's ideal for every beer. Though there is certainly water that brewers can get away with using for every beer, as long as they don't care about mash pH, flavor ions, and (depending on the water) yeast flocculation.