Softened water brewing

[ru41285]

So I've been brewing for ages using my municipal water which has always been pretty good but about a year ago I moved to a new house with well water that runs through a water softener. All of my water, including my outdoor spigots, runs through the softener.

I've read that softened water is no good for brewing so for the past year I've been buying gallons of distilled water and building up my minerals each time. It's worked well but it's getting really old and annoying having to buy water everytime I want to brew.

Does anyone brew with softened water and if so, how is it? Or is anyone else in the same scenario as me and have a more convenient solution than buying gallons of water each time?

Thanks in advance.

 

[VikeMan]

I've read that softened water is no good for brewing so for the past year I've been buying gallons of distilled water and building up my minerals each time. It's worked well but it's getting really old and annoying having to buy water everytime I want to brew.

Does anyone brew with softened water and if so, how is it? Or is anyone else in the same scenario as me and have a more convenient solution than buying gallons of water each time?

Have you had your softened water tested? It might be ok to build from. If there's an issue with it, it's probably high sodium levels.

If the softened well water turns out to be not acceptable, and you don't want to buy distilled, you might want to consider getting an RO filter.

 

[marc1]

I have well water that's not good for brewing. Our water softener makes it better for use around the house, but still not good for beer. I used to run out and get jugs filled at the RO water stations (if you do this, get a cheap TDS meter, the stations are sometimes not maintained well and this will let you know when the water is off).
I got sick of running around for water, so I got an RO system for brewing. I used Buckeye Hydro, they were great on finding what I actually needed and good on price. They are also big on selling systems that do NOT require proprietary filters, etc. so that you aren't dropping excessive $$ when it's time to replace them.
It's probably going to be more expensive on a per gallon price for me doing it this way, but I don't have to run around everywhere to find water (gas, time, miles on the car) and I can be sure that I'll have water for brew day (machines at the store won't be down, distilled won't be sold out if they are).

 

[Jim R]

You won't know if your softened water is ok and able to be adjusted properly without a water test. I would spend the money on a water test first.

I am in a similar situation and my well water and softened water isn't very good. I debated spending the money on a RO system but that also includes replacing the filters periodically which is an ongoing expense. The other option is to buy water. I decided to buy 4 gal water jugs designed for water dispensers at the local big box hardware store ($3.50 for 4 gallons). The company that bottles it has a detailed water report on their web site which makes it easy to adjust for each style of beer. It takes about 2 jugs for a 5 gal batch which is easier to carry than multiple 1 gal bottles. I buy a few of them when I am at the store anyway for other things. It is the cheapest and easiest option for me.

 

[Sammy86]

I'm waiting on my water report form my softened water. I'll report back when it finally comes in.

 

[McKnuckle]

I also brew with distilled water as my base, but I distill it myself using a gadget like this one. Typically, I collect about 10 gallons of run-off waste water when I chill a batch with my immersion chiller. I'll use half of that for cleaning, and I'll distill the rest and collect it in a 5 gallon water cooler bottle for use in my next batch.

I brew 2.5 gallon batches, so I need less water than a 5 gallon brewer does. So after about two days of running the distiller one gallon at a time, as time permits, I've filled the bottle. I run the distiller on a timer, so that it shuts off with a little bit of water still left on the bottom un-boiled. This helps the unit last longer, since it never runs dry and burns minerals to the bottom, gets overly hot, etc.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

We have exactly zero breweries using softened water as their brew water among our customers. If they need RO, a softener is a nearly always a mandatory pretreatment. If they have a softener, it is always followed by an RO.

Russ

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

If you can tell me your feed water hardness, I can estimate the amount of sodium the softener will add. Add that to the amount of sodium already in the water, and you'll have a rough estimate of the final water.

For brewing water we shoot for a target of less than 150 mg/L sodium.

Russ

 

[Mark3885]

Buckeye Hydro did my water report in August and since then , I put in a softener recommended by the well drilling company. The softener removed my iron and manganese problem but now I’m in the same boat as to the new water make up . My hardness was 7 grains and sodium was 9.04 ppm , Russ could you calculate my sodium and any other changes I should look out for?

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

About 65 mg/L sodium. This does not consider how much sodium results from treating your Fe and Mn. If you know the concentration of those two in your well water let me know.

Russ

 

[Mark3885]

Manganese 263 ppl iron .64 ppm thanks

 

[Mark3885]

263 ppb manganese iron .64 ppm thanks

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

how about ca and mg?

 

[Mark3885]

Here is the whole report, thanks

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

You should have about 90 mg/L sodium in your softened water.

Are you using iron out salt?

 

[Mark3885]

No iron out salt , plain solar salt

 

[LTBrewer]

7 grains of hardness and less than 1 ppm of iron isn't that excessive at all.
My well in Florida has been at 20 grains and 1 ppm of iron going back 20 years.

OP- there should be a bypass valve on the softener to see exactly what is coming out of your well. You would have thought whoever designed it would have had a tap for hose or whatever before the softener.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

I put a small RO unit in the basement after the softener. I keep a few 5 gal bottles, fill them up a few days early. Most of my stuff is extract, so no worries. For my wines I go to a friends hose who has good municiple water a week or more ahead of time, then vent the caps to loose the chlorine.

I have used my well water, the hardness was OK, but I didn't like the rust. Odd that the external lines are softened, plants usually don't like salt.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, the "action level" for iron remediation is typically around 0.3 ppm...

Cheers!

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

fwiw, the "action level" for iron remediation is typically around 0.3 ppm...

Cheers!

That stems from the USEPA National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations. The "secondary maximum contaminant level" (SMCL) for iron is 0.3 mg/L or ppm.

Russ

 

[LTBrewer]

I thought his .64 ppm of Iron was pre-softener. If that's what the treated water measures, then the softener could be fouled or could need some other equipment. I've got 1 ppm of Iron out of the well, and most softened water tests say the iron is 0, though I still think we have occasional iron bacteria issues.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

I believe the 0.64 ppm iron is his well water, not treated water

 

[LTBrewer]

I confused that post with another above that said they were posting a treated water test. He had 7 gpg of hardness after running through a softener?

 

[Spivey24]

I have a similar setup with well water, a water softener with iron out salt, then running through an RO filter. I currently just use the RO profile In Bru N Water and adjust with gypsum and CaCl.

is their any value in getting a water report of the RO water from Ward to verify or are the levels so low it doesn’t matter?

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

I have a similar setup with well water, a water softener with iron out salt, then running through an RO filter. I currently just use the RO profile In Bru N Water and adjust with gypsum and CaCl.

is their any value in getting a water report of the RO water from Ward to verify or are the levels so low it doesn’t matter?

I'd check your RO water with a TDS meter - assuming your RO water is reasonable (under 10 ppm or something like that) I'd not bother testing the RO water @ Ward