Water Filter Setup

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I like your all of your setups. I have been using an ice maker filter to remove the cholrine from my tap water. My brewing water has been coming from my kitchen tap and being transported outside to the deck where my HLT is set up. I have taken a bit of a hiatus from brewing since November and will be getting back in the swing of things very soon. I will be moving my entire operation to the garage where it will have a dedicated setup. I plan on changing to a whole house filter mounted to my brew cart to feed my electric HLT.
 
Just a heads up - I just built a brew stand and mounted an activated carbon filter to help remove the chlorine from my city supply. I fed the whole brew stand with a vinyl garden hose for portability. It turns out the garden hose was adding an awful garden hose taste (when comparing side by side with tap water) that the filter wouldn't remove and didn't seem to ever go away. I have since converted the feed to my brew stand to PEX water piping and it has made a world of difference.
 
Spine said:
Just a heads up - I just built a brew stand and mounted an activated carbon filter to help remove the chlorine from my city supply. I fed the whole brew stand with a vinyl garden hose for portability. It turns out the garden hose was adding an awful garden hose taste (when comparing side by side with tap water) that the filter wouldn't remove and didn't seem to ever go away. I have since converted the feed to my brew stand to PEX water piping and it has made a world of difference.
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Oh man that sucks. Avoiding garden hoses is something most of us learned early on. I use the white Swan brand marine/RV hoses approved for use with drinking water. Never a problem with them.
 
i used this the other day and built mine before my Terrapin Rye Pale Ale Clone.

Thanks for the detail in this post. Made it so easy to do.
 
The Kansas City water department does not list Chloramine as a compound present in the water supply. I guess that means that there is none ?? Is chloramine a compound that must be reported if there is any or are there certain things that can be left out of reports such as this ? Anyone have any experience with this?
 
Scut_Monkey said:
Um what..... I guess that's good. :drunk:
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Yes, that was intended to be a compliment I am sure. I think that shenny may be from elsewhere. His/her English is not perfect, but so what. It's probably quite a challenge for him/her to figure out some of the brewing stuff we discuss here.
 
If a hose has "drinking water safe" in the description, is that good enough for this purpose? Does that necessarily mean that it won't contribute any weird
tatstes (i.e. plastic)?

TIA,

John
 
johnodon said:
If a hose has "drinking water safe" in the description, is that good enough for this purpose? Does that necessarily mean that it won't contribute any weird
tatstes (i.e. plastic)?

TIA,

John
Click to expand...

IMO, Yes!
 
johnodon said:
Thx Cat.

I think I'll grab this one: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Camco-10-Fresh-Water-Hose/14504300

I don't want 25' for hose laying around. This should suit my needs just fine. :)

John
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That hose should be just fine. While you are there, pick up one of these:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Camco-Brass-Water-Regulator/14504323?findingMethod=rr

It's a pressure reducer and allows you to shut the water off with a nozzle without fear of blowing the fittings off the end of the hose as can often happen.
 
johnodon said:
Does that replace this part that was listed in the first post:

Gilmore water shutoff​

Or is it used in conjunction with that shutoff?
Click to expand...

I think the Gilmore attachment is just a shut off. You could use both if desired. I have my filter plumbed with a bypass. The pressure reducer is on the faucet and I run a potable water hose from there to the brew stand. At that point it connects to the filter manifold. The filter supplies water through small 3/8" vinyl tubing controlled with a ball valve. It's best to filter the water slowly, so the hose need not be very large. I have a second potable water hose like the one you are buying hooked up to bypass the filter. This is the one I have the hose nozzle on and it also has a separate ball valve for control. The bypass water I use for the CFC cooling water and for general cleanup with the nozzle. I'm fortunate to have a floor drain in my brewing area. That's a major plus IMO.
 
Very ignorant on these filters, but I think someone in this thread mentioning installing this under the kitchen sink? Is it as simple as getting the right fittings to place it in line from the cold water source, then to the faucet?

Will this create a bottleneck in the water speed/pressure from cold on our kitchen sink? It would be an elegant solution for some filtered water for beer, but hopefully we could also toss the brita.

I don't have a hole available on my sink on top for a separate faucet, so that's why I'm asking about putting it in-line to the actual kitchen faucet.
 
tmbc10784 said:
Very ignorant on these filters, but I think someone in this thread mentioning installing this under the kitchen sink? Is it as simple as getting the right fittings to place it in line from the cold water source, then to the faucet?

Will this create a bottleneck in the water speed/pressure from cold on our kitchen sink? It would be an elegant solution for some filtered water for beer, but hopefully we could also toss the brita.

I don't have a hole available on my sink on top for a separate faucet, so that's why I'm asking about putting it in-line to the actual kitchen faucet.
Click to expand...

It is that simple... couple of fittings and away you go. It shouldn't really slow down your water flow, at least not noticeably.
 
:mug:I just built one of these and used it for the first time today. I didn't use the quick connects though. This thing works fantastic! Thanks for the thread.
 
i have used an omni filter under a second kitchen sink for cooking/drinking water. I went today to replace the filter and found no omnifilter cartridges anywhere. I picked up a off brand replacement and installed it and now have water leaking from a valve on top of the housing.
Anyway, I decided that OMNIFILTER was probably near defunct and after a bit of research ordered an AQUASAN in line filter.
Aside from my unfortunate day trying to replace my water filter, i'd heartily recommend good water filter for cooking and drinking (brewwing) water. I also keep a whole house filter on my main water supply... they are not expensive to buy or maintain.
 
how effective are these filters? has anyone run tests on the water before and after the filter? do they remove chloromines? any effect on ph?

i've recently switched to all grain and have been researching water quite a bit. always used spring water before but have been rethinking this as i am now using much more water.

this topic, more than any other, seems to produce more questions the more i look into it :) The brew strong series on water is pretty informative, and this site is pretty good too:
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2008/09/i-think-that-water-treatment-has-made.html
 
A 10" filter housing with an Activated Carbon cartridge is very effective at removing both chlorine and chloramine...as long as the flow rate through the system is at less than 1 gallon per minute. Most users fail to limit or throttle the flow rate and you will get 'break through' of the undesirable compounds very quickly. If you limit the flow rate, the filters can produce upwards of a 1000 gallons of treated water.

For the typical municipal water system delivery pressure of 60 psi, inserting an orifice plate with a 1/16th inch hole into the filter's supply line will limit the flow to about 1 gpm.

Both chlorine and chloramine treatment are removed by oxidation reactions with the activated carbon. They are time dependent reactions and the low flow rate is important.

For more information on water and its treatment, visit the Bru'n Water site:

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/
 
thanks, mabrungard. good info. i may consider going this route knowing it will take out both chlorine and chloramine. definitely makes sense efficiency would go up with more exposure time to the carbon.

good site too.
 
Any concerns for mold or mildew growing in the filter between uses? I only brew once a month so this might be a concern for me. Thoughts? Other then that the design looks super simple.
 
As a side note, if you're not keeping your activated carbon filter unit connected to a disinfected water supply line, you should consider the water that comes out of the filter non-potable until its been boiled.

Even if the filter is always hooked up to a disinfected line, there have been cases where hazardous infections have occurred. Most particularly, there have been cases where activated carbon filters were placed on the supply line for a whole house and the residents evenually become infected with Legionaire's disease from the infected aerosol from the shower heads.

Play it safe and assume that the water out of filters is infected if your connecting and disconnecting in between brews. That water is perfectly fine for brewing, just not for drinking.
 
mabrungard said:
As a side note, if you're not keeping your activated carbon filter unit connected to a disinfected water supply line, you should consider the water that comes out of the filter non-potable until its been boiled.

Even if the filter is always hooked up to a disinfected line, there have been cases where hazardous infections have occurred. Most particularly, there have been cases where activated carbon filters were placed on the supply line for a whole house and the residents evenually become infected with Legionaire's disease from the infected aerosol from the shower heads.

Play it safe and assume that the water out of filters is infected if your connecting and disconnecting in between brews. That water is perfectly fine for brewing, just not for drinking.
Click to expand...


is this accurate? what about a fridge with a built in water filter, isn't this an activated carbon filter that's connected full time? perhaps whirlpool will soon be flooded with lawsuits.
 
mabrungard said:
As a side note, if you're not keeping your activated carbon filter unit connected to a disinfected water supply line, you should consider the water that comes out of the filter non-potable until its been boiled.

Even if the filter is always hooked up to a disinfected line, there have been cases where hazardous infections have occurred. Most particularly, there have been cases where activated carbon filters were placed on the supply line for a whole house and the residents evenually become infected with Legionaire's disease from the infected aerosol from the shower heads.

Play it safe and assume that the water out of filters is infected if your connecting and disconnecting in between brews. That water is perfectly fine for brewing, just not for drinking.
Click to expand...

What is a disinfected water supply line? I would think that city supplied tap water should be potable, so the water coming out of the filter should be as sanitary as the water going in provided the filter is properly maintained.

IIRC, the commonly available store bought bottled drinking water is actually just tap water that's been run through a series of filters. I don't trust those dispensing machines you often find at supermarkets and such, but that's just me. I do remove the solid block carbon cartridge from the filter housing and attempt to air dry it, but I suspect that it never completely dries out between uses.
 
Infection is not very likely if the filter is always connected to the supply line. The case of the Legionaire's Disease comes from using an activated carbon to supply all taps including the showers. Legionaire's Disease is easily spread by aerosol mist, like from a shower head. The last time I snorted a dose of water from my fridge was from laughing too hard. I think Whirlpool is pretty safe.

I too disconnect my activated carbon filter from the water line and dry it out. But I don't drink that water directly out of the filter since it "might" have something growing in it. Getting sick is very remote, but its just a good idea not to tempt fate.

The introduction of water disinfection is one of the greatest advances in the world. We brewers curse it because it will screw up our beer, but it is a better world with it. Chlorine and chloramine removal is only a necessary inconvenience.
 
Since you have quite a bit of experience mabrungard (since we've last talked i've checked out your site and have begun using your spreadsheet) here's a question for you:

Why dry out the filter? a few years back i was pretty heavily into saltwater reef fish tanks. there are a some similar needs between the two hobbies (clean water, temperature control, hydrometer readings), and i used to filter all of my water with an particulate/carbon/RO setup. all of the advise i received then said to never let the filter sit dry or the membrane would become useless. here we're talking carbon filters and the advise is to always dry between use. was i fed bad information?
 
JVD_X said:
RichBrewer...

Personally - I also use the same whole house filter between the kettle and the fermenter (5 micron spun fiber) and it keeps everything out of my pump and most of the break material out of the fermenter. I just toss the filter as it is completely clogged.
Click to expand...

So you're using that filter on the suction side of the pump. I'm guessing you use an immersion chiller? I like that idea, I'm just trying to figure out how it doesn't restrict the flow too much. Is it difficult to sanitize?
 
Just wanted to thank you for this thread, I live in the city with some funky tasting water and this cleaned it right up. Tasted just like bottled water after it went through filtration. I bought the exact same items and it cost me around 85, thank you inflation but well worth the savings of bottled water.:drunk:


Gilmore water shutoff------------AS1FFMGF----------------$7.98
Watts swivel hose adapter----------A662-------------------$4.12
Gilmore 2 piece QD----------------09QCGF-----------------$6.57
Watts tapped hose adapter---------A665-------------------$3.82
Whirlpool House Filter-----------WHCF-DWH---------------$20.57
Whirlpool Filter .5 micron-------WHCF-DB1----------------$22.32
Lasco 3/4" male pvc adapter----------------------------------$1.45
Lasco 3/4" 90˚ pvc elbow--------------------------------------$.30
Length of 3/4" pvc remant pipe-------------------------------$1.36 (5 ft)


marine grade hose 16.90
 
Just because a filter removes chlorine, that doesn't automatically mean it reduces chloramine as well. It's all about contact time. Your Brita pitcher will remove chlorine, but it's not going to take chloramines out, even though it uses carbon as the filter media. The good news is, there are several chloramine water filters out there now since municipal treatment plants have started using chloramine as a disinfectant more regularly. If I were you, I'd find out whether your municipal water treatment center uses chlorine or chloramine as its primary disinfectant, and then decide what type of filter to purchase. Making your own seems a bit too time consuming. However, since this is a homebrewing forum, you might be interested in this post on how to make a Randall with a water filter housing!
 
Selwa said:
Just because a filter removes chlorine, that doesn't automatically mean it reduces chloramine as well. It's all about contact time. Your Brita pitcher will remove chlorine, but it's not going to take chloramines out, even though it uses carbon as the filter media. The good news is, there are several chloramine water filters out there now since municipal treatment plants have started using chloramine as a disinfectant more regularly. If I were you, I'd find out whether your municipal water treatment center uses chlorine or chloramine as its primary disinfectant, and then decide what type of filter to purchase. Making your own seems a bit too time consuming. However, since this is a homebrewing forum, you might be interested in this post on how to make a Randall with a water filter housing!
Click to expand...


Or just add a campden tablet when bringing it up to strike temp.
 
Built this today... Without the hose nearly 75$ now.

Anyone else's a662 leak badly?
 

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