Thoughts on my water?

[blacklabel8829]

Hello,

I am fairly new with only a few extracts under my belt. I want to switch to BIAB and other all grain recipes. I know something that can make a big difference is the chemistry of my water. I retrieved the following from my city's water report:

N/A -Calcium (Ca+2)
N/A -Bicarbonate (HCO3-1)
0.001 mg/l-Magnesium (Mg+2)
4.0 mg/l-Sulfate (SO4-2)
10.5 mg/l-Sodium (Na+1)
15 mg/l-Chloride (Cl-1)

(They do not collect the Calcium or Bicarbonate)

How important is it for me to find out the calcium and bicarbonate? I have considered just buying RO water and adding what i need to it, but wanted to see if there were any other thoughts.

 

[The_Bishop]

Most of the time, city water reports are useless for brewing information.

 

[BarrelAgedForrest]

I would be inclined to say stick to purified bottled water. Or learn to build your own profile and use RO water.

 

[JawZziff]

I use city water with little problems. to me, being concerned with water profiles seems like an advanced brewing technique. i would get your brewing system down (cleaning, sanitizing, making a starter, fermentation, etc) before worrying about water profile. unless you're getting a lot of off flavors that could be attributed to your water profile. I think as a beginner though any off flavors are most likely to come from other reasons.

 

[BigEd]

(They do not collect the Calcium or Bicarbonate)

How important is it for me to find out the calcium and bicarbonate? I have considered just buying RO water and adding what i need to it, but wanted to see if there were any other thoughts.

That's a big problem re brewing because both of those ions are quite important. Your other numbers are very low so it's likely the numbers for those missing ions are also low. However, if you are serious about brewing you really need to know those numbers. It's difficult to imagine that the water department doesn't do tests that incorporate those ions but it they don't or if they won't supply you with those numbers I'd suggest getting an independent water test done. Check "Ward Labs". They offer affordable tests that will give you the information you need. My assumption based on the partial information you posted is that your water is very low in all ions and is probably a very good base for brewing liquor. The cost of a one time Ward's Lab test will likely save you plenty of money over time compared to buying bottled water every time you brew.

 

[BarrelAgedForrest]

Also and almost more important to this issue of yours is this, does your area treat the water with chlorine and chloramines? If so you will only end up with nasty medicinal tastes in whatever you make with it.

 

[Subdivisions]

Also and almost more important to this issue of yours is this, does your area treat the water with chlorine and chloramines? If so you will only end up with nasty medicinal tastes in whatever you make with it.

1/4 of a campden tablet per 5 gallons will take care of those.