How to find your water profile??

[Peepmachine]

Ok guys, Im pulling my hair out on how to find out my water baseline profile? I looked up the town profile on the town website and called them as well. They test for phosphorus, heavy metals, and a bunch of other crap I don't care about. All I want to know is chloride, sulphate level, and hardness. No one knows how to help me. I called the pool place in town and they cant help me either. How did you guys get this done?

 

[bransona]

First you should be very glad they test for that "crap you don't care about." Second, send your water to ward labs for a full report.

https://producers.wardlab.com/brewerskitorder.php

 

[Natdavis777]

Send it to the labs unless you know you have crappy water like me (300+ bicarb).... If you know this info, or find out this is how you water is, invest in RO. You can either purchase from the RO water supplier at the store (kroger, walmart etc and Ive tested with < 50ppm) or you can buy distilled water.

If your water is workable, or using RO/DI, Bru'n Water is a great app to use to get you where you need to be. Remember. Less is more starting out

 

[Yooper]

The test you want is at Ward Lab- it's called the "household minerals test" and costs $26.00. It will have everything you need for brewing.

 

[IslandLizard]

The test you want is at Ward Lab- it's called the "household minerals test" and costs $26.00. It will have everything you need for brewing.

Their prices went up recently, it's $27.50 for either Household (W-5) or Brewer's test (W-5a) now. So send in your water for a Brewer's test.

Don't order the KIT, they'll send you a "collection vial" and a return box for $15 more.

Now realize that a test is a snapshot. If your domestic water supply composition varies widely, many do with the seasons, that single test may not be that useful.

I'm surprised your water company wasn't more helpful. They DO have the numbers you're looking for. It's just to get to talk to the right person to give them to you. I talked to mine and got the whole picture. He also set a few facts straight on where our water actually comes from. The public report that's being mailed every year is highly inaccurate when it comes to actual sourcing. Luckily our water comes from deep local wells, is great quality, soft, and consistent. It only needs Campden treatment for the chlorine.

That said, and with Ward's recent price hike, those Lamotte water testing kits for $100 suddenly look a lot more appealing (~50 tests). That is if your water is good enough to use for brewing and can be tweaked.

Now depending on how much and how often you brew, RO water from the machines can be a great alternative at $0.39 a gallon.

 

[Peepmachine]

Thanks guys for the replies. I think Ill get on the horn and find out who to really talk to in my town offices for our water profile here in upstate NH. So I can go to Walmart and ask for RO water? Do they have it in bulk or something?

 

[RichH]

Thanks guys for the replies. I think Ill get on the horn and find out who to really talk to in my town offices for our water profile here in upstate NH. So I can go to Walmart and ask for RO water? Do they have it in bulk or something?

WalMart or a grocery store usually has one of those RO water machines out front. $1.50 fills one of my Better Bottles.