Help interpreting water report

[clientsoup]

I just got my results back from Ward Labs for my tap water. From a brewing perspective, is there anything here that is an outlier that I should be concerned about?



Is this a balanced starting place? My city is supposed to have fairly neutral water but I lack the skills to confirm that from these figures.



pH 7.1

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 0.64

Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.11

Cations / Anions, me/L 1.0 / 0.7

Sodium, Na 12

Potassium, K <1

Calcium, Ca 6.1

Magnesium, Mg 2

Total Hardness, CaCO3 23

Nitrate, NO3-N <0.1

Sulfate, SO4-S 1

Chloride, Cl 5

Carbonate, CO3 <1.0

Bicarbonate, HCO3 31

Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 26

Total Phosphorus, P 0.71

Total Iron, Fe <0.01

 

[Gnomebrewer]

That's some really good, soft brewing water. It's not far off RO. A blank slate.

The only thing you need to be aware of is if there are seasonal variations, especially if there are multiple water sources used that might have a big variation.

Edit: You'll need to add Calcium (chloride and/or sulfate (gypsum)) to nearly all of your beers. And you might need to treat for chlorine or chloramines.

 

[VikeMan]

That's great water as a starting point. To figure out what needs to be added to it, maybe have a look at the "Intro to Brewing Water Treatment" presentation at:

http://sonsofalchemy.org/library/
Your water is close enough to RO water that you could apply the method on slide 9 of the presentation. But have a look at the whole thing, for context.

 

[IslandLizard]

Excellent water!
Definitely treat with Campden to remove Chlorine/Chloramines, all municipal water contains one or the other.

You can call your water company and ask about their water sources and resulting seasonal variations in your tap water. Their Quality Control Dept. should be able to help you with that.

 

[csantoni]

My water is very similar to this. Before I got, my test results I had some city data that led me to believe I was in the neighborhood so I've been using calcium chloride and gypsum in all my beers and they have been very good.

I generally use Bru'n Water and Beersmith's water calc to give me an idea of what to shoot for and tend to take a middle ground between the two. Typically that means less than two grams each of both salts depending on the style I'm making.