Got my water report...how bad is it?

[Dgallo]

If you like to brew dark beers your water would be decent. For pale beers you will want to dilute your tap to about 50% with RO or Distilled water. My tap has pretty high bicarbonate/alkalinity but you still have me by about 90 ppm

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Per Ward Labs, my well water stands at 377 ppm Alkalinity. It also has 165.7 ppm Ca++ and 55 ppm Mg++. And it's pH is 7.7. I've been thinking of adding Phosphoric Acid to pH 5.5, letting the white precipitate settle out, decanting, and then filtering it to assure the removal of any remaining Calcium Apatite precipitate, and sending it off to Ward Labs to see how much Ca++ and Mg++ remain. The main thing stopping me is that I'm retired and living on a fixed income.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

As to my 377 ppm Alkalinity well water, I've only used it once to make beer, wherein I added 2 parts RO to one part well water, and then acidified the blended water to ~pH 5.4 with 88% Lactic Acid. The ~15 SRM color scale Lager I made from this water blend was mainstream decent by my standards as to mouthfeel and flavor. But it was more effort than just using mineralized RO water.

From the perspective of accurately sampling (or using) our well water I have the distinct advantage of having a hand pump in my ~ 140 Ft. deep well in addition to the homes electric well pump. With the hand pump I can get water from my well that has no possibility of having picked up any level of "back contamination" from our homes softener system.

 

[user 298779]

Great info here; thanks all. General consensus is using RO system and adjusting. I agree if you have space for it. So opinions will very greatly but what’s a good system (brand & model) for less than $200? Bobby M. mentioned one(s) for around $100. I’ve seen some in that range at the big box stores, but I’d think quality for brewing varies between them.

Suggestions/recommendations?

Cheers

 

[Bobby_M]

Great info here; thanks all. General consensus is using RO system and adjusting. I agree if you have space for it. So opinions will very greatly but what’s a good system (brand & model) for less than $200? Bobby M. mentioned one(s) for around $100. I’ve seen some in that range at the big box stores, but I’d think quality for brewing varies between them.

Suggestions/recommendations?

Cheers

http://www.purewaterclub.com/index.php/nro-5t-pl-7.html
It's 98 bucks with free shipping. There may be very small quality variations between this system and systems in the 200-300 range but honestly I don't know how that would be measured. I have a slight variation of this system from the same vendor and my well water goes into it at 400ppm of total dissolved solids and the RO comes out of it at 8pmm TDS. That means it's working very well, removing 98% of the "stuff" in the water.

The only other gear you may want to get is a 1/4" push fit tee, a couple of inline shutoff valves (also 1/4" push fit) and a float valve for collecting brewing water in larger bucket or in your brewing kettle.

 

[user 298779]

http://www.purewaterclub.com/index.php/nro-5t-pl-7.html
It's 98 bucks with free shipping. There may be very small quality variations between this system and systems in the 200-300 range but honestly I don't know how that would be measured. I have a slight variation of this system from the same vendor and my well water goes into it at 400ppm of total dissolved solids and the RO comes out of it at 8pmm TDS. That means it's working very well, removing 98% of the "stuff" in the water.

The only other gear you may want to get is a 1/4" push fit tee, a couple of inline shutoff valves (also 1/4" push fit) and a float valve for collecting brewing water in larger bucket or in your brewing kettle.



View attachment 745827

Thanks Bobby, much appreciated. Will order one today and try it out.

Cheers

 

[mabrungard]

Thanks Bobby, much appreciated. Will order one today and try it out.

Oh boy, please set that system up somewhere where it won't be a disaster when something leaks. Good equipment and filters cost money and that system with all the extras and that questionable storage tank, worry me.

Buy once, cry once, is a good rule of thumb when buying verifiable, quality equipment that probably costs more than a cheap system. When you buy trash, its probably buy twice and cry (or curse) many times.

 

[user 298779]

Oh boy, please set that system up somewhere where it won't be a disaster when something leaks. Good equipment and filters cost money and that system with all the extras and that questionable storage tank, worry me.

Buy once, cry once, is a good rule of thumb when buying verifiable, quality equipment that probably costs more than a cheap system. When you buy trash, its probably buy twice and cry (or curse) many times.

Thanks for the response; I agree and was thinking of canceling order. Recommendations for $200?

Cheers

 

[user 298779]

http://www.purewaterclub.com/index.php/nro-5t-pl-7.html
It's 98 bucks with free shipping. There may be very small quality variations between this system and systems in the 200-300 range but honestly I don't know how that would be measured. I have a slight variation of this system from the same vendor and my well water goes into it at 400ppm of total dissolved solids and the RO comes out of it at 8pmm TDS. That means it's working very well, removing 98% of the "stuff" in the water.

The only other gear you may want to get is a 1/4" push fit tee, a couple of inline shutoff valves (also 1/4" push fit) and a float valve for collecting brewing water in larger bucket or in your brewing kettle.



View attachment 745827

I checked the web link above last night. It just smacks of suspicion.

First: it’s an unsecured site, even if you go to purchase.

Second: I generated an account to test the site. Account created, made small purchase through PayPal. As of this AM I’ve yet to receive an e-mail confirmation for purchase; PayPal had sent receipt within seconds.

Third: Waited a few hours and tried to log into account. Every attempt was greeted with account access failure notice.

Forth: tried the “forgot my password “ (which I didn’t - use a PW manager). Entered account e-mail address, which wasn’t confirmed but said “..if this is valid account e-mail…reset instructions will be sent to address..”. As of now, no e-mail from them.

Fifth: URL is PureWaterClub.com but it bills to Cutie Pet Inc. Their contact e-mail is to a gmail address.

SUMMARY: I’m not saying they’re not legit (a small business start-up faces countless challenges at times); I have no proof. But IMHO it’s mighty suspicious, so be forewarned.

 

[user 298779]

Oh boy, please set that system up somewhere where it won't be a disaster when something leaks. Good equipment and filters cost money and that system with all the extras and that questionable storage tank, worry me.

Buy once, cry once, is a good rule of thumb when buying verifiable, quality equipment that probably costs more than a cheap system. When you buy trash, its probably buy twice and cry (or curse) many times.

Just checked your Brunwater.com website. Yet another example why this forum is such an excellent resource. We have some industry experts who offer insight and advice. Thank you!

Cheers

 

[IslandLizard]

I agree and was thinking of canceling order.

Good idea!

Recommendations for $200?

@Buckeye_Hydro is a well-known sponsor here, selling RO equipment. I'd ask him.

 

[IslandLizard]

URL is PureWaterClub.com but it bills to Cutie Pet Inc.

Anything that sounds like "pure" or "club" I'd stay away from.

 

[user 298779]

Anything that sounds like "pure" or "club" I'd stay away from.

Isn’t that the truth!! yikes….

 

[user 298779]

http://www.purewaterclub.com/index.php/nro-5t-pl-7.html
It's 98 bucks with free shipping. There may be very small quality variations between this system and systems in the 200-300 range but honestly I don't know how that would be measured. I have a slight variation of this system from the same vendor and my well water goes into it at 400ppm of total dissolved solids and the RO comes out of it at 8pmm TDS. That means it's working very well, removing 98% of the "stuff" in the water.

The only other gear you may want to get is a 1/4" push fit tee, a couple of inline shutoff valves (also 1/4" push fit) and a float valve for collecting brewing water in larger bucket or in your brewing kettle.



View attachment 745827

Hey Bobby, have you checked their website recently? It looks very suspicious but I can’t say they’re not legit…

Cheers

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

A single carbon filter reduced a LOT of values in my water report (over a spun filter that just takes out sediment).
Sodium went from 51 to 11. Total hardness went from 163 to 85. Sulfate went from 66 to 9. Magnesium went from 15 to 6.

There is something else going on here... A carbon filter wont' remove hardness like that, unless you are getting it to come out of solution as scale, which I can't see happening. Same re sodium. Sulfate can come out of solution with oxidation (aeration) but I don't see that happening either.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

Cutie Pets is located at:
Contact us

No.689 Chang Xing Rd.
Ningbo City
Zhejiang Province
China

 

[user 298779]

Cutie Pets is located at:
Contact us

No.689 Chang Xing Rd.
Ningbo City
Zhejiang Province
China

Thanks for weighing in! I made up my mind to go with Buckeye Hydro any (despite you probably being Ohio State fans…!)…

Should probably call you about configuration shown on another thread here.

Cheers

 

[Wables]

I just tapped my first beer that I diluted 80/20 with distilled water, no other modifications. I’m floored. First time using citra hops, which I’m not a huge fan of now, and pressurized fermenting in an all rounder. This old dog has learned some new tricks and he is happy. I purchased a RO system and am ready to learn the water chemistry stuff. The keg is heading to deer camp on Friday!