Water Quality/Chemistry Report Thread

[Reelale]

Location: Moore County, NC
Water Source: Cape Fear River, Lillington, NC
Other Cities on Source: Any city served by Harnett County Water System
Date Tested:1/26/10
Lab: Ward

pH 7.3
[FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold][FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold]ppm[/FONT][/FONT]
Sodium, Na 25
Potassium, K 3
Calcium, Ca 8
Magnesium, Mg 2​

Total Hardness, CaCO3 28
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.9 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 11

Chloride, Cl 15​

Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 25
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 20

"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[Prickle]

Minneapolis, MN (according to the city website, this should also apply to Golden Valley, Crystal, New Hope, and Hilltop)

Ward Labs
pH 9.2

(ppm)

Na 16
K 3
Ca 22
Mg 10
Total hardness CaCO3 97
NO3-N 1.0
SO4-S 9
Cl 30
CO3 12
HCO3 40
Total alkalinity CaCO3 54

 

[lucasszy]

San Jose, CA
12/21/09
Ward Labs

pH 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 357
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.60
Cations / Anions, me/L 6.0 / 5.6
ppm
Sodium, Na 79
Potassium, K 4
Calcium, Ca 23
Magnesium, Mg 16
Total Hardness, CaCO3 124
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.5 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 17
Chloride, Cl 101
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 96
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 79
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

Reading and extrapolating from the 2009 Water report, I get the following:

Sodium, Na 33
Potassium, Not reported by city
Calcium, Ca 116
Magnesium, Mg 71
Total Hardness, CaCO3 292
Nitrate, NO3 19
Sulfate, SO4 48
Chloride, Cl 48
Carbonate, CO3 not reproted
Bicarbonate, HCO3 356
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 not reported

Which makes me think that this water sucks for brewing day to day!

If anyone wants to chime in with a better interpretation, that would be great. I do get ground water in my area, and will be sending some water to wards for detailed analysis.

Cheers

 

[Duffer]

Camano Island, Washington
Driftwood Heights Community Well system

pH 7.9

Sodium, Na 16ppm
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 34
Magnesium, Mg 19
Total Hardness, CaCO3 164
Sulfate, SO4-S 10
Chloride, Cl 18
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 155
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 127

Gives a Residual Alkalinity of 92 and a Cl/SO4 ratio of 1.8

 

[Noallsie]

From the Public Utilities website 2008 water quality report.

Salt Lake City Metro:

Ca 123
SO4 36
Mg 14
Na 30
Cl 38
Alkalinity as CaCo3 181
Hardness as CaCo3 157
pH 7.6

Different sources (like Parley's canyon, Jordan valley etc.) can be found here:

http://www.slcgov.com/utilities/PDF Files/Annual Reports/2009 Water Report_water report.pdf

 

[jsmith32]

My current home of Waukegan, IL posts their water quality report on-line, but it doesn't include any of the mineral content information. So I called the Waukegan Water Plant this morning and they were more than happy to give me the following information:

Alkalinity: 96 mg/L
Hardness: 110 mg/L
SO4: 30 mg/L
Na: 10 mg/L
Cl: 15 mg/L

They didn't give me exact numbers for Ca, Mg, or HCO3, but said that those numbers could be derived from alkalinity and hardness. After some digging, I've estimated (although realize I could be totally wrong) those numbers to be:

Ca: 38 mg/L
Mg: 11 mg/L
HCO3: 66 mg/L

For anyone in Chicago or in Chicago suburbs that draw their water from Lake Michigan, these numbers seem to be pretty consistent (Chicago, Evanston, and Kenosha all have water reports on-line with numbers very close to Waukegan's).

Jason Smith

 

[speedyox]

Numbers from Montgomery, IL tap water (as reported by the water company upon request):

PH 7.51 S.U.
Calcium 20.7 mg/L
Sulfate 35 mg/L
Magnesium 9.59 mg/L
Sodium 107 mg/L
Chloride 13 mg/L
Carbonate 0
Bicarbonate 290 mg/L
Alkalinity 288 mg/L
Hardness 108 mg/L

 

[Snafu]

Here are the numbers for Henrico County, Virginia. The first set is what the county gave me, the second is from Ward Labs, enjoy!

Ca - 19.2
Mg - 16.3
Na - 23.2
SO4 - 40.6
Cl - 12.4
HCO3 - 52.1
Ave PH = 7.7

From Ward Labs:
CA - 28
Mg - 7
Na - 37
SO4 - 27
Cl - 24
HCO3 - 64
Ave PH = 8.0

 

[DeafSmith]

Data from North Texas Municipal Water District (serves suburbs north and east of Dallas.

For more info on sources and areas served:
http://www.ntmwd.com/watersystem.html

There is no good info online from my city (Richardson) water department, other than the normal "quality" report, but one member city (Wylie) of the NTMWD has good info in monthly reports going back several years. I assume that Richardson water would have the same mineral profile as Wylie, since they come from the same sources, and confirmed this by talking to someone at the Richardson water dept. (though I'm not sure how knowledgeable he was). I have no idea how much the treated water from different treatment plants would vary, even if they start with the same water.

The original reports are here:
http://www.ntmwd.com/water_quality.html

and I have made a spreadsheet from all reports back through 2007, just so you can see how much variation there is over time.

Spreadsheet is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?vnq41ene3z1ek5m

One thing I don't understand is that up through August of last year, the values for HCO3 and "Total alkalinity (as CaCO3) were always different numbers and seemed to correspond to the values in Palmer's nomograph, but from Sept. 2009 to the present, these two numbers are equal. How can that be?

EDIT 9/18: Added graphs below the tables to make it clearer (don't know what happened to the x-axis labels when I converted from Open Office to .xls)

I think the total alkalinity values from Sept. 2009 to the present are actually ppm, even though they are listed "as CaCO3" in the reports. Someone forgot to multiply the HCO3 values by 50/61 ?

So now my question is: With this much variation in mineral content, should I even try to use this water, or would I be better off using RO water and building the profile from scratch?

 

[DeafSmith]

Bump so maybe someone will see my question at the bottom of the last post.

 

[arroyobrewery]

Location: Pasadena/San Marino, California
http://www.amwater.com/files/CA_1910139_CCR.pdf
Date: 2009

Calcium 56/44
Magnesium 20/12
Sodium 43/30
Chloride 43/17
Sulfate 78/31
pH 7.7/7.5
Hardness as CaCO3 220/158
Alkalinity as CaCO3 176/154

 

[Mayday99]

Bristol CT, not very helpful.

Would like to know what other people in the area may get:

http://bristolwaterdept.org/documents/CT000150_WR.pdf

Na: 13.3
SO (just listed as sulfate): 3.99

That is all they give, no hardness or any other info. Seems like it should be soft, but the mineral deposits I see in my sinks tell me otherwise.

 

[bassbone]

Location: Cincinnati, OH
Utility: Cincinnati Water Works
Water Source: Miller PLant (Ohio River Water)

Date: March 2011

All results in mg/L-

A = 5 Year Average
Min = Minimum Value recorded
Max = Maximum value Recorded

Calcium A 37 Min 28 Max 49
Magnesium A 9 Min 3 Max 15
Sodium A 27 Min 15 Max 48
Chloride A 32 Min 18 Max 60
Sulfate A 78 Min 40 Max 136

pH A 8.6 Min 8.1 Max 9.0
Hardness 151
Alkalinity (Calcium Carbonate) A 72 Min 48 Max 99

 

[dcp27]

Location: Medford, Ma
Water Source: Quabbin Res.
Date: Feb 2011

All results in mg/L-

Calcium 2.1
Magnesium 0.5
Sodium 5.2
Chloride 7.5
Sulfate 4.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.009
pH 6.8
Alkalinity 2.8

http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/monthly/wqupdate/qual3wq.htm

 

[Thundercougarfalconbird]

Anyone got Statesboro/Savannah GA area report?

 

[stubbornman]

Location: Soddy Daisy, TN
Falling Water Utility District
Tested by Ward Labs


Ca: 30
Mg: 15
Na: 2
Cl: 3
SO4: 1
CaCO3: 115

 

[eknee]

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Utility: Fort Wayne City Utilities (Three Rivers Filtration Plant)
Water Source: St. Joseph River (sole source)
Interannual/Intra-annual variability: low
Disinfectant: Chlorine
Date: 2009 (averages for entire year)

All results in mg/L-

Calcium 28.175
Magnesium 6.867
Sodium 15.846
Chloride 30.56
Sulfate 56.67

Nitrite 0.04
Nitrate 1.76
pH 8.77
Hardness as CaCO3 109.87
Alkalinity as CaCO3 35.78

 

[mchrispen]

Aqua Water delivers to different regions in the county and the tech said some of the profiles are significantly different... I am located in The Colony subdivision, just on the west side of Bastrop.


Name: The Colony, Bastrop Texas - Aqua Water - June 2011
PH: 7.70

Ions:
Calcium: 8.20
Magnesium: 4.70
Sodium: 222.00
Sulfate: 83.00
Chloride: 66.00
Bicarbonate: 357.00

Very high bicarb and sodium levels...

 

[harpo]

Arvada Colorado. Ward Labs Report Date 6-3-11

Calcium Ca: 11
Magnesium Mg: 2
Sodium Na: 5
Chloride Cl: 6
Sulfate SO4: 15
Alkalinity CaCO3: 25

pH 7.5

 

[inthebackwoods]

This is for Wilkonsonville, MA (Sutton, MA south), highest levels detected ever:

Calcium 0
Magnesium 0
Sodium 7.7
Chloride 250
Sulfate 250
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH 8.5
Hardness as CaCO3 0
Alkalinity as CaCO3 0

 

[hoppymonkey]

acworth, GA
5/10

pH: 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est: 70
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm: 0.12
Cations/Anions, me/L: 1.0/1.0

The following in ppm:
Sodium, Na: 5
Potassium, K: 2
Calcium, Ca: 12
Magnesium, Mg: 2
Total Hardness, CaCO3: 38
Nitrate, NO3-N: 0.2(SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S: 4
Chloride, Cl: 6
Carbonate, CO3: <1 (below detection limit)
Bicarbonate, HCO3: 34
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3: 28

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Location: Reno, NV
Golden Valley area
Secondary standards provided by: Truckee Meadows Water Authority biochemist.
Data Collected: 2/12/11

(in ppm or mg/L)
Chloride -- 11.0
Magnesium -- 3.41
Sulfate -- 4.1
Calcium -- 11.2
Potassium -- 1.4
Sodium -- 14.0
Total Alkalinity -- 52.0
Hardness -- 42.0
pH -- 7.44



Overall I'm very happy with my tap water for brewing. It makes calculating salt additions for almost any style very easy.

To the handful of Reno/Sparks brewers here I'm probably going to call TMWA again in a couple months to get new secondary standards. However, these numbers haven't changed much at ALL since 2009.

 

[BrewerDon]

Just found this old thread. Great idea. My beer got a lot better after I got this data. My numbers are from Ward labs. Report was from 5/13/2011.

Dallas, TX

pH 7.4

(ppm)

Na 30
K 5
Ca 25
Mg 5
Total hardness CaCO3 83
NO3-N 1.6
SO4-S 22
Cl 34
CO3 <1
HCO3 34
Total alkalinity CaCO3 28

 

[JerseyJoe]

My Tap water in Bentonville, AR is the first number. I tested at Wards labs 5 4 2012. The Beaver Lake Water Dist Report is in () from 2012 report.
pH 8.1 (8.3 avg)
All are listed as ppm
Sodium, Na = 6 (8.4)
Potassium, K = 2 (2.05)
Calcium, Ca = 21 (26.4)
Magnesium, Mg = 2 (2.15)
Total Hardness, CaCO3 = 61 (71 avg)
Nitrate, NO3-N = 0.4 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4 = 21 (24.7)
Chloride, Cl = 6 (7.8)
Carbonate, CO3 = 3 (not reported)
Bicarbonate, HCO3 = 44 (not reported)
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 = 41 (54 Avg)
Total Phosphorus, P = 0.42 (not reported)
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01 (ND)
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[obrockmeier]

Ward Labs Tap Water Analysis from Medford, MA February 2013

pH 8.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 107
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.18
Cations / Anions, me/L 1.6 / 1.6 ppm

Sodium, Na 30 ppm
Potassium, K < 1 ppm
Calcium, Ca 4 ppm
Magnesium, Mg < 1 ppm
Total Hardness, CaCO3 14 ppm
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 ppm (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 3 ppm
Chloride, Cl 20 ppm
Carbonate, CO3 3 ppm
Bicarbonate, HCO3 44 ppm
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 41 ppm
Fluoride, F 1.04 ppm
Total Iron, Fe 0.05 ppm

"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[elemenopee7]

Bristol CT
Report date 3/26/13

pH 7.5
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 70
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.12
Cations / Anions, me/L 1.0 / 0.8

Sodium, Na 14
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca 5
Magnesium, Mg 2
Total Hardness, CaCO3 21
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 2
Chloride, Cl 17
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 9
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 8
Fluoride, F 0.83
Total Iron, Fe 0.04

 

[Mayday99]

Bristol CT
Report date 3/26/13

pH 7.5
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 70
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.12
Cations / Anions, me/L 1.0 / 0.8

Sodium, Na 14
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca 5
Magnesium, Mg 2
Total Hardness, CaCO3 21
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 2
Chloride, Cl 17
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 9
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 8
Fluoride, F 0.83
Total Iron, Fe 0.04

Dude, I owe you a beer.

Plugged into beersmith, I was using Boston as the base water, looks like I wasn't too far off. Thanks for sending out the water and thanks for sharing.

 

[Unibrow]

Municipal Water Data
Cleveland, Ohio and Vicinity
(Data from Cleveland Water: 2008 Annual Report and Phone Communications)

All values are in ppm (mg/L). Hardness is mg/L as CaCO3

Calcium: 33
Magnesium: 8.8
Sodium: 7.7
Sulfate: ranges from 30-60 (seasonal, varies with Lake Erie levels)
Chloride: 33
Total Alkalinity: ranges from 72-84
Hardness: 122
pH: 7.4

BUMP!!!

I've been looking for this info - and it may be out of date today but I would use this. Has anybody gone by these numbers?

I live in Cle Heights - let me know if you can, Thanks!

 

[sloanfamilydsm]

WARD Laboratories
11/13/2013
Des Moines, Iowa (East Side)

pH 9.5
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est. ppm 208
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.35
Cations / Anions, me/L 3.4/3.5

ppm
-----------------
Sodium, Na 21
Potassium, K 4
Calcium, Ca 28
Magnesium, Mg 12
Total Hardness, CaCO3 120
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.7 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 17
Chloride, Cl 39
Carbonate, CO3 12
Bicarbonate, HCO3 41
Total Alkalinity, P 0.18
Total Iron, Fe <0.01

 

[hungry4hops]

WARD Labs
Aston PA 19014

Date Received :12/06/2013
Date Reported :12/09/2013

pH 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 200
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.33
Cations / Anions, me/L 3.0 / 3.1
ppm
Sodium, Na 12
Potassium, K 3
Calcium, Ca 31
Magnesium, Mg 10
Total Hardness, CaCO3 119
Nitrate, NO3-N 4.3 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 10
Chloride, Cl 34
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 73
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 60
Total Phosphorus, P < 0.01
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit