Help understanding water report

[dragon99]

My local water report can be found here:
http://www.cstx.gov/docs/wqr2008.pdf

The parts that is confusing to me is that is lists bicarbonate as 459ppm, but carbonate alkalinity as 0ppm. Is this possible? How can the water have such a high bicarbonate level and not have any alkalinity?

 

[Kaiser]

Yes, something is not right with this report. But I wouldn't trust a report that includes puzzles anyway

One options is to call up the water department and tell them that you need to know the mineral content of the water (Ca, Mg, Cl ... so forth). If you end up talking to an engineer they'll know what you want. The other option is to spend a few bucks (15-20) and send a sample to Ward Labs. They'll get you the numbers.

Those Water Quality reports are pretty useless and even if they contain a few of the numbers you need, they tend to show max values b/c the purpose of these reports is to show you that your water is safe.

Kai

 

[LooyvilleLarry]

In an attempt to completely hijack this thread while keeping on topic

Here is my water report:
Sodium, Na- 30 mg/l (ppm)
Calcium, Ca- 47 mg/l (ppm)
Magnesium, 12 Mg/L
Total Hardness, CaCO3- 165 Mg/l
Nitrate, NO3-N - 1.0 (ppm)
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 78 mg/l (ppm)
Potassium, K- I don’t have this information
Manganese ug/l (ppb) - 36 ppb
Sulfate, SO4-S - (ppm) – 59 ppm
Chloride, Cl (ppm) – 47 ppm
Carbonate, CO3 - <1 ppm
Bicarbonate, HCO3 – 78 ppm\

Using the advice located here, Brewing a Pale ale I come up with the following profile:
Ca(100)/Mg(20)/Na(25)/SO4(350)/CL(40)
that needs the following adjustments
Ca(53)/Mg(8)/Na(5)/SO4(291)/Cl(-7)

So, how do I get there??? I've use BrewSmith, but still haven't figured out all of the interactions.

I typically have used FiveStar 5.2 buffer in the filtered water and just let that go.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

So, how do I get there???

I would read Chapter 15 in Palmer's book How To Brew and then use the spreadsheet linked at the bottom of section 15.3.

 

[dragon99]

Yes, something is not right with this report. But I wouldn't trust a report that includes puzzles anyway

Your just jealous that your water report didn't come with a puzzle and cartoon characters...

Your right however that this probably isn't the most accurate report. I will probably send a sample in and get a better report of water quality.

So, how do I get there??? I've use BrewSmith, but still haven't figured out all of the interactions.

I typically have used FiveStar 5.2 buffer in the filtered water and just let that go.

I would recommend trying BreWater 3.0 (found here Ken Schwartz's Index of Homebrew Stuff). I've been playing with it some lately and its easy to use. Just plug in your water values and your target values. The Formulation wizard will give you amounts of salts to add.

 

[Kaiser]

Sodium, Na- 30 mg/l (ppm)
Calcium, Ca- 47 mg/l (ppm)
Magnesium, 12 Mg/L
Total Hardness, CaCO3- 165 Mg/l
Nitrate, NO3-N - 1.0 (ppm)
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 78 mg/l (ppm)
Potassium, K- I don&#8217;t have this information
Manganese ug/l (ppb) - 36 ppb
Sulfate, SO4-S - (ppm) &#8211; 59 ppm
Chloride, Cl (ppm) &#8211; 47 ppm
Carbonate, CO3 - <1 ppm
Bicarbonate, HCO3 &#8211; 78 ppm

A few things don't seem right with this report. The Alkalinity as CaCO3 and the Bicarbonate have the same value (78 ppm). At normal water pH alkalinity as CaCO3 is the bicarb ppm * 50/60.

The water report is also not balanced. There are ~11% more cations (+ ions) than anions (- ions). This means some ions are missing b/c water doesn't have an electrical charge. But it is not uncommon to get an imbalanced water report as some of the ions are difficult to measure. The imbalance is less if I assume that 78ppm is the correct value for alkalinity as CaCO3.

The residual alkalinity for this water is 37 ppm as CaCO3, which seems about right for pale ales.

I don't think that you can build the water profile you are aiming for. In particular I don't know what salts to add to get to 350 ppm SO4 while keeping Ca at 100, Mg at 20 and Na at 25. I gave it a shot using my water calculation spread sheet (http://braukaiser.com/documents/water_calculator.xls) and this is the result:

Kai

 

[jjbanks]

Guys...need help in understanding my local water report (Pottstown, PA). Does this tell you guys anything at all. I can't find levels for Carbonate and Bicarbonate, Chloride, PH, etc.... Am i missing something or is this water report pretty much worthless and i need to send water to ward labs?

Link to Water Report:
http://www.pottstown.org/DocumentCenter/View/288

 

[Yooper]

Guys...need help in understanding my local water report (Pottstown, PA). Does this tell you guys anything at all. I can't find levels for Carbonate and Bicarbonate, Chloride, PH, etc.... Am i missing something or is this water report pretty much worthless and i need to send water to ward labs?

Link to Water Report:
http://www.pottstown.org/DocumentCenter/View/288

Yes, that is a report on the contaminants and safety. You can either call the local water dept and ask for the things you need (bicarbonate, calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfate, chloride, alkalinity and if they use chlorine or chloramine), or send a sample to Ward Lab and get a "household mineral test".