my water report - usable or beyond hope?

[OptimusJay]

This is my first venture into understanding water chemistry and and mash pH. Below are the results for my tap water. I have read the sticky Primer (the first 15 or so pages at least) and if I understand correctly, since my alkalinity is as high as it is, even mixing with RO water would not get it to a low enough level. Here is the text from the Primer I am referring to:

"The following recommendations apply to “soft” water. Here we will define soft as meaning RO or distilled water or any water whose lab report indicates alkalinity less than 35 (ppm as CaCO3 – all other numbers to follow mg/L), sulfate less than 20 (as sulfate – Ward Labs reports as sulfur so multiply the SO4-S number by 3 to get as sulfate), chloride less than 20, sodium less than 20, calcium less than 20 and magnesium less than 20. If your water has numbers higher than these, dilute it with RO or DI water. A 1:1 dilution reduces each ion concentration to 1/2, a 2:1 dilution to 1/3 and so on. If your water contains chloramines add 1 campden tablet per 20 gallons (before any dilution)"

And here is the report I received from Ward's Lab.

pH 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 211
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.35
Cations / Anions, me/L 3.7 / 3.5

ppm
Sodium, Na 12
Potassium, K 1
Calcium, Ca 39
Magnesium, Mg 14
Total Hardness, CaCO3 156
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.4 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 11
Chloride, Cl 18
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 143
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 117

I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback on the report and whether I am reading it correctly that I may be best to start w/ RO water and build up due to the apparent high alkalinity based on the reported numbers.

Thanks,
Jay

 

[mabrungard]

Far from hopeless! That is a decent starting point, but the alkalinity will likely require neutralization to make it usable for many paler styles. The level of mineralization is adequate for many styles, but may require dilution to reduce the sulfate and magnesium for softer and more delicate styles.

Wait a second, South Haven? So this is Great Lakes water? Again, this should be a fine water to brew with. Its what made, what made Milwaukee famous.

 

[OptimusJay]

Thanks for the quick reply, Martin. Yes, Lake Michigan water indeed. So where am I getting confused regarding the alkalinity level? If mine water is 117 then even if I did a 1:1 mix with RO that would only bring the alkalinity down to 59 and I thought the target was 35 per the quote I referenced. Or would you suggest I use my water without mixing with RO and adding something to lower the alkalinity?

Jay

 

[mchrispen]

You can knock out that alkalinity in 5 gallons with less than 3 ml of 88% lactic acid, and bring the liquor pH to around 6, likely less in a standard mash. So yeah, you can brew with that, and reduce the sulfates and other ions with dilution when necessary.

 

[OptimusJay]

That is great news. Thank you for that info, Matt. I plan on purchasing a pH meter in the coming weeks and with that AND the knowledge I'm learning about water chemistry I have high hopes for my future brews. This forum is a wonderful resource!

Jay

 

[ajdelange]

...Below are the results for my tap water. I have read the sticky Primer (the first 15 or so pages at least) and if I understand correctly, since my alkalinity is as high as it is, even mixing with RO water would not get it to a low enough level....
pH 7.8
ppm
Sodium, Na 12
Potassium, K 1
Calcium, Ca 39
Magnesium, Mg 14
Total Hardness, CaCO3 156
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.4 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 11
Chloride, Cl 18
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 143
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 117

Shouldn't be a problem at all. Diluting 1:1::RO:Tap would reduce the alkalinity to 58; diluting 2:1 to 39; 3:1 to 29 etc. IOW a n:1 dilution reduces it by a factor of (n+1). But it also reduces everything else by the same amount. The idea behind the Primer is to get the alkalinity low enough w/ RO and then supplement the calcium, chloride and sulfate (if wanted) back up to reasonable working levels.