How Does my Well Water Sound?

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Clint Yeastwood

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Today I read that the water in my county has a hardness level of around 180 ppm. We're sitting on a limestone aquifer with chert in it. It's like building on a giant piece of chalk.

So should I be happy or sad? The web appears to say this is great for ales.

I haven't paid for a test yet. Somehow $12 for a 4-pack of imperial stout seems cheap, but $47.50 for a water test sounds outrageous.
 
Hard to say. There are a lot of things in water that can impact beer.

Have you brewed beer using your well water? Is there any notable reoccurring flavor you don't like?

Unless you are building your water profile from scratch using RO, I wouldn't get too hung up on specific amounts of each thing. I would just let taste be your guide. Try adding one water addition per batch to see what impact it has.
 
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fwiw, Wards "501" brewer's test suite is only $32.50 if you supply the sample bottle.
Though if you've never had a more comprehensive water quality test done on your well, this might be a good time for that...

Cheers!
 
Today I read that the water in my county has a hardness level of around 180 ppm. We're sitting on a limestone aquifer with chert in it. It's like building on a giant piece of chalk.

So should I be happy or sad? The web appears to say this is great for ales.

The web can't really know that without some more data, and even then there's no one-size-fits-all "great" (unmodified) water for ales. Ales is a huge and varied category.

There are various combinations of Calcium and Magnesium concentrations that could result in 180 ppm of hardness. And alkalinity, which is very important to mash pH, can't be surmised from a hardness number. Then there are the "flavor" ions... sodium, chloride, and sulfates, all unknown.

Also, @day_trippr is on point. Folks with wells should have their water tested, regardless of brewing. It's a safety thing.
 
I'm not worried. The previous owners had no problems, and my septic tank is over 15 feet from the pump.

Unfortunately, even if you somehow know for sure, (without testing!) that your water isn't being contaminated by human sewage, that's far from the only potential source of contamination. Maybe give this a read:

https://www.epa.gov/privatewells/potential-well-water-contaminants-and-their-impacts
BTW, I don't know if you are joking about the 15 feet, but that's a lot closer, like an order of magnitude closer, than any guideline or regulation I've ever come across. Maybe it's a Florida thing, I dunno.
 
I know it should be tested even though the odds it's contaminated are about one in a billion. Until I started brewing, I didn't drink the water, but that has obviously changed.
 
I would start by contacting the County Health Department and ask for a water quality test. This is a test to check for water safety. Years ago, I moved to the country in a house with its own private well. I went to the County Health Dept and had it checked. I see you are in Florida.
This may help.
https://www.floridahealth.gov/all-county-locations.html
 
Bite the bullet and cough up the money for a Ward Labs test. There is no other way to know what is in your water if it's not tested. Even if there are no contaminants its good to know what your base water has in it so you can match any target profile you wish down the line. I have my well water tested about every 18 to 24 months.
 
My well is actually maybe 70 yards from the drain field. I am no poop expert, but I would guess there is nowhere in the developed world where they will let you put these things next to each other.
 
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I spend about $7 to buy RO water for each 5 gal batch that I brew. I then start with a clean slate and adjust my water profile for the style of beer that I am brewing. For the 3-4 batches I brew every year, this is cheap. If you want to take your brewing up a notch by using the proper water profiles, you either need to formally test and adjust your well water or use RO water. There is no sense even thinking about the water if you aren't willing to do this.
 
Not a bad thought, actually. Though the Brewing test is actually just $32.50, the difference between the two tests is the stock test doesn't include iron and potassium. Otherwise their respective test suites are identical...

Cheers!
 
My well is actually maybe 70 yards from the drain field. I am no poop expert, but I would guess there is nowhere in the developed world where they will let you put these things next to each other.
Another consideration is if your well is shallow (sand point), does it sit in the area of a lawn.
And if so, do you, or has any previous owner treated the lawn for weeds or insects?
Florida has been known for termites and a treatment for termites at one time included Chlordane which is fairly persistent.
So there is a consideration of potential toxins that would be good to know.

Even if it is drilled into a deeper strata, those Florida subterranean caves are under much of the upper part of the state for sure. They can become contaminated from surface pollutants so it is worth testing.
A local well driller might be a good source for information.
 
Thanks for the help.

I had some well guys out here a few times, and whenever tradesmen come by, I drive them insane with questions. They figured my well was probably around 60 feet deep, but they would have to pull the pump out to be sure.

There is no possible way this house was treated with Chlordane because it was built in 2000 on a freshly cleared lot. I doubt any house within half a mile was built before 1990.

I've used glyphosate and 2,4D here. Not that it does much good in the weed-growing capital of the universe. I also use imidacloprid from time to time. Again, not that it does much good.

There is very little crop farming here because it's impossible. It's basically hobby farms for horse lovers. Any agricultural chemicals of consequence would have to come a long way. A neighbor has a "blueberry farm," but it's really a tax dodge, like the cattle on my land. He has like 200 organic blueberry plants, and he pretends to run a u-pick. In exchange, the state cuts his taxes by 50%. I have a 14-acre pasture with maybe 8 cattle, and the tax bill last year was about $110.

Until about the time I started brewing again, I drank bottled water because I didn't want tons of calcium in my system. I've had kidney stones, and I was under the impression, probably mistaken, that hard water made them worse.

One of these days I'll get a test and see what's happening.
 
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