Very, VERY tangential distilling question, I know but...

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bernardsmith

bernardsmith

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If I distill my own tap water and the tap water chloramines will the distillation process remove those elements (I need chlorine free water for cheese making and some other fermentation processes I use to ferment vegetables)? Do I just use Campden tabs to neutralize the cholramine or can distillation remove this chemical? Thoughts? Thanks
 
I very much appreciate that piece of information, balrog, but my question was about distilling water and whether cholramines are removed through distillation. I prefer to use distilled water when making cheese and to date I have been buying it but I have an opportunity to distill my own water and hence my question.
 
Distillation will remove the chloramines. But as JayJay pointed out, why not just get a RO system? A good system will only cost around $120, and the RO water output will typically have <10ppm TDS. For all intents and purposes, that's so close to distilled, you'd never know the difference.

Check out Buckeye Hydro for more info. They are a sponsor at HBT and Russ is very knowledgeable.
 
Chloramine is not the same as chlorine. Chloramine is deliberately designed not to be evaporated off. So it is possible that distillation will not remove chloramine. Do you know for certain that it does or are you simply imagining that it does?
 
what form of chloramine is in your water? i tried to look it up for it's boiling point, there's more than one chloramine, and the one i looked at is a gas...so i'd imagine distilling wouldn't help...(and, i thought people used milk to make cheese?)
 
It's so simple: If using a pinch of meta won't be OK, buy RO water or buy an RO system, as mentioned before. Distilling water is cumbersome and expensive (energy), with no additional benefits.
 
IslandLizard said:
Distilling water is cumbersome and expensive (energy), with no additional benefits.
Click to expand...

i can confirm it's expensive, at .118 cents a kWh, costs me a few bucks to just distill a gallon, from 5-6.....(and if this is for 'cheese making' why isn't it in the cheese making forum? ;))

edit: there's a fermented food forum too.....
 
bracconiere said:
what form of chloramine is in your water? i tried to look it up for it's boiling point, there's more than one chloramine, and the one i looked at is a gas...so i'd imagine distilling wouldn't help...(and, i thought people used milk to make cheese?)
Click to expand...

o_O...
We do but you need to use chlorine -free water to dissolve calcium chloride and rennet and so at this time I buy distilled water but if I can make my own then that would mean that I never have to run out...
Oh, and I assumed that folks who know something about distillation are more likely than folks who know about cheese making whether chloramine is removed from water by distillation..
 
bernardsmith said:
No problem... Just thought that "distillers" might know but if no one does then no one does...and I can continue to buy distilled water (cheaper, I think, than making my own).
Click to expand...

i just know that when my column's temp probe reads ~175-180ff i'm pulling 65% distillate....

as i've said in other threads i use this, says it removes 90% chlorine, 98% heavy metals...for 40,000 gallons...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Eco-One-EC...003396?hash=item1ef8d93544:g:V70AAOSwyFhctSz5

you can find it cheaper....
 
IslandLizard said:
RO, baby, RO...
Click to expand...

****, i'm drunk, i'd have to find out what RO actually does...lol, is a green sand one of these similar because i have one of them too...

100_0599.JPG


don't remember what it cost, but if you're just trying to 'bloom' rennet in water??
 
bracconiere said:
poopy, i'm drunk, i'd have to find out what RO actually does...lol, is a green sand one of these similar because i have one of them too...

View attachment 648120

don't remember what it cost, but if you're just trying to 'bloom' rennet in water??
Click to expand...
No, RO is not "green sand."

RO systems use water pressure through a very fine RO membrane, allowing mostly only water to pass through while rejecting (holding back) 85-95% of impurities, such as mineral ions and other molecules.
There are usually 1 or 2 sediment filters and a carbon filter before, and a "polishing" carbon block after the membrane. You can get a small system for $100-150, enough for brewing as long as you start collecting a day (or 2) in advance, the output is slow.

Buckeye Hydro was mentioned in #5.
 
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IslandLizard said:
No, RO is not "green sand."

RO systems use water pressure through a very fine RO membrane, allowing mostly only water to pass through while rejecting (holding back) 85-95% of impurities, such as mineral ions and other molecules.
There are usually 1 or 2 sediment filters and a carbon filter before, and a "polishing" carbon block after the membrane. You can get a small system for $100-150, enough for brewing as long as you start collecting a day (or 2) in advance, the output is slow.

Buckeye Hydro was mentioned in #5.
Click to expand...

i kinda knew that, but the OP wasn't trying to 'build' a water profile for brewing. it sounded like he just needed a small amount of water to bloom rennet in, for making cheese? and was concerned with chlorine....

just thought i'd toss out a couple ideas....
 
bracconiere said:
i kinda knew that, but the OP wasn't trying to 'build' a water profile for brewing. it sounded like he just needed a small amount of water to bloom rennet in, for making cheese? and was concerned with chlorine....

just thought i'd toss out a couple ideas....
Click to expand...
Totally lost track of what the OP's original usage was... :smack:
Just buy a gallon of RO ($0.39) or distilled water ($0.60) and have enough for a year or longer.
Or use some bottled drinking water.
 
A carbon filter will also remove chloramines:

https://www.thesprucepets.com/remove-chloramines-from-tap-water-2924183

Its possible that your water doesn't have chloramines in it.

Here's the water report for Saratoga Spings and it lists

Halocetic acids and Trihalomethenes as disenfection byproducts.

(disclaimer) I don't know if the above items will have any effect on cheese making.

https://ny-saratogasprings.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/276

Your water provider may be different, I'm sure they'll tell you if you have chloramines in your water.
 
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Thanks for this. I believe that my city does use chloramines (was in the last water report I saw from about 12 months ago) but it does sound as though simply buying distilled water is the better way to go - and for the record, I use about 1/2 cup for every batch of cheese I make and I make cheese at least once a week so a gallon of distilled water does not last more than about a month or two
 
bernardsmith said:
but it does sound as though simply buying distilled water is the better way to go - and for the record, I use about 1/2 cup for every batch of cheese I make and I make cheese at least once a week so a gallon of distilled water does not last more than about a month or two
Click to expand...
Not a bad investment for 30 cents a month. :tank:
 

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