Help with Ro vs tap water test.
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bitteritdown
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What is the rating on your RO unit? 50/100/150 gallons per day? What is the water pressure entering the unit? Does it have a pump? Are the RO filters new?
RO isn't necessarily better than tap but it may be "easier" to work with than tap as it has low to no alkalinity and very little remaining minerals. This means you can build your water "from scratch" the way which suits your needs the best.
Have you had your tap water tested? What is its makeup? How much of what minerals does it contain?
If I'm reading your post correctly your tap water has 180ppm alkalinity and your RO water has 40 ppm alkalinity?
I think you could definitely work with your tap water by diluting with RO and/or neutralizing the alkalinity using an acid such as phosphoric or perhaps lactic.
If your tap water has made drinkable beer in the past you'll notice a difference by going with RO or neutralizing the alkalinity in your tap; that and use a water calculator like Brunwater.
RO isn't necessarily better than tap but it may be "easier" to work with than tap as it has low to no alkalinity and very little remaining minerals. This means you can build your water "from scratch" the way which suits your needs the best.
Have you had your tap water tested? What is its makeup? How much of what minerals does it contain?
If I'm reading your post correctly your tap water has 180ppm alkalinity and your RO water has 40 ppm alkalinity?
I think you could definitely work with your tap water by diluting with RO and/or neutralizing the alkalinity using an acid such as phosphoric or perhaps lactic.
If your tap water has made drinkable beer in the past you'll notice a difference by going with RO or neutralizing the alkalinity in your tap; that and use a water calculator like Brunwater.
He's using test strips with such low resolution that it appears his alkalinity is 40 and his hardness 0 when in fact the actual numbers are probably substantially different. If alkalinity of the tap water is really around 180 then alkalinity of the RO is probably 10 or so. If hardness is really 450 from the tap then the RO should be at about 20 (and he has a hell of a lot of sulfate in the tap water). Alkalinity and hardness need to be measured with a more precise drop count kit or a sample sent off to Ward Labs.
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yewtah-brewha
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Thanks for the input, gives me something to look into, I don't know the rating on the ro system and it looks like I need to go talk to the water dept, and possibly take a sample to my university!! as for buying a 120.00 test kit that's not an option, but maybe I can talk to a local home brew club that can help in this dept. thanks!
How about $14.12 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EJ3DOG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) or $28 to Ward Labs
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