Water for sanitizing

[JamesJ]

Is it generally ok to use tap water for sanitization. I use the one step no rinse powder. I filter the water I use for brewing through a britta pitcher so I was wondering if I should do the same for the water I use for sanitizing. I ask cos the britta pitcher I own is small and it's a pain to constantly refill it and wait for it to filter to get the amount of water I need. Please weigh in.

Thanks.

 

[Ryan_PA]

With one step, you have nothing to worry about using tap water. That said, I am huge proponent of StarSan by 5 Star Chemicals. It is a quicker acting no rinse that almost every LHBS should carry. One of the big benefits of StarSan, is it is reusable. In its case, you would be better off using deionized water to increase the solution shelf life.

 

[menschmaschine]

One-Step is technically a cleanser, not a sanitizer. It may have some sanitizing capability, but doesn't meet the gov't requirement of killing 99.999 % of non-spore forming, pathogenic bacteria (standard definition of "sanitizer"). Personally, I wouldn't use it as a sanitizer.

Whichever sanitizer you use, you needn't worry about using water right out of the tap. The activated charcoal in the Brita filter probably harbors more bacteria than the water out of your tap (depending on how often you change it). The effect of minerals, etc. in your tap water is nominal.

 

[Revvy]

This is a good thread discussing why One-step really isn't a sanitizer, and it has some great info on both iodophor and starsan, with links to help you ultimately decide which one works best for your brewing needs.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54932

 

[Tonedef131]

For a batch of star san I measure out one ounce and dump a 5 gal bottle of RO water on top. It is the perfect ratio and lasts essentially forever, it will get dirty long before the pH gets above 3.