New Home, New Water

[phrinda]

Hi all,
I just recently moved from Kansas to Connecticut. In Kansas I had really hard water that took a lot of effort to get into a good range. I would usually add quite a bit of lactic acid along with calcium sulfate/chloride. Now that I am in CT on well it appears that I have the opposite situation. I'm just looking for some advice on what to expect with the new water. Here is my report from Ward Labs:

pH - 7.1
TDS - 104
Cations/Anions 1.6/1.6

Sodium - 7
Potassium - 2
Calcium - 19
Magnesium - 3
Total Hardness (CaCO3) - 60
Nitrate - 0.4
Sulfate - 5
Chloride - 6
Carbonate - <1
Bicarbonate - 64
Total Alkalinity (CaCO3) - 52
Phosphorus - 0.02
Iron - 0.07

Hopefully this water will work out well.

 

[WayFrae]

Wow that is some really nice water! I am jealous.

 

[ajdelange]

Pretty good. Chloride and sulfate both low so you'll want to supplement at least the chloride if not both. Alkalinity low enough that you can wipe it out with a small amount of acid or a modest (1:1) dilution with RO. See the Primer for ideas on how to start out.

 

[mabrungard]

Oh come on, AJ. He already mentioned that he is used to acid use. With that nicely low alkalinity, its only going to take a bit of acidification to reach appropriate alkalinity. No need to burden someone with a real imposition of dilution in this case.

 

[phrinda]

Thanks for the tips. I'll probably use a minor addition of lactic acid since I have lots left over from my old water. Since the other elements are also so low, should I be wary of adding it all in with calcium chloride/sulfate?

 

[ajdelange]

Oh come on, AJ. He already mentioned that he is used to acid use. With that nicely low alkalinity, its only going to take a bit of acidification to reach appropriate alkalinity. No need to burden someone with a real imposition of dilution in this case.

Dilution is less of an imposition (if you have a source of RO) than acid addition, though we should leave that determination to the reader.

Dilution: Fill HLT half full with tap and the rest of the way with RO. Voila!

Acid either:
a)Fill HLT and add acid until pH reaches mash pH (requires pH meter)
b)Determine volume of water to be treated in liters, multiply by 1 (this works because his alkalinity happens to be 1 mEq/L) and divide by 11.8, measure out that many mL lactic (or divide by 1.2 and measure out that many mL of 10% phosphoric) and add.

If he is to benefit from the guidance of the Primer he will use dilution as the Primer strives to make things as simple as possible.

 

[ajdelange]

TSince the other elements are also so low, should I be wary of adding it all in with calcium chloride/sulfate?

No, those two are fine. You don't in general want sodium, potassium, magnesium or bicarbonate. In cases where you do appropriate salts of those ions can be used.

 

[phrinda]

Thanks again, it would be nice to just dilute with RO water. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, a source of RO isn't as easy to come by as are the bottles of acid in my refrigerator. Along with my new well water came a longer drive to any stores. So I will definitely be utilizing primarily the water that I have on hand. I'm mainly just happy to have a water profile that I will be able to work with. Though I see a good pH meter purchase in the very near future.

 

[mabrungard]

Yep, lug several gallons of RO water back from the store or add a few drops of acid to tap water. The imposition is clear.

 

[ajdelange]

OP understands even if you don't and that's what really counts.