Water treatment for a knucklehead…

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AkTom

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I’ll soon be getting a RO system of some sort as my water is horrendous.
What are some good places to start reading up on things I should (minimally) know before I start. I won’t be brewing for at least a couple of months.
I’m open for schooling as long as its simple like me.
TIA
Tom
 
Depending on who you're talking to, they'l say it is complicated, or really simple.

My old boss who has been brewing since his college days (and he is technically over 'retirement age' now) doesn't even bother with adjusting his water anymore. And his beers taste pretty damn good, so I don't get it.

@VikeMan has some good info that is pretty easy to digest, although you could dive deeper if desired.

and between the article that @marc1 posted, and this one..I think I've got enough knowledge to totally screw myself over.

https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/water-adjustment
 
I’ll soon be getting a RO system of some sort as my water is horrendous.
What are some good places to start reading up on things I should (minimally) know before I start. I won’t be brewing for at least a couple of months.
I’m open for schooling as long as its simple like me.
TIA
Tom

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/
.. and 'cliff notes' here: Water Chemistry – How to Build Your Water – Bertus Brewery
 
I was going to say that if your water tastes good to drink it's fine for brewing |(unless you're a professional or going for competitions,) but you did say it's horrendous. I suppose you mean it's not good for drinking?
RO and Adjustments are the way to dial it in specifically.
Aside from the online links mentioned, the most comprehensive book is Water, by John Palmer
 
If you want to understand why and how to adjust your brewing water, the Water Knowledge page on the Bru'n Water website should be useful to any newby. Starting with RO water does make brewing water adjustment easier since you have a good knowledge of what your starting point is. But it is still helpful to understand that you'll need to do a little more to make the water better for each batch of your beer.
 
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I was going to say that if your water tastes good to drink it's fine for brewing |(unless you're a professional or going for competitions,) but you did say it's horrendous. I suppose you mean it's not good for drinking?
RO and Adjustments are the way to dial it in specifically.
Aside from the online links mentioned, the most comprehensive book is Water, by John Palmer

This is my numbers. It doesn’t taste bad… like I said, I’m just an old knucklehead looking to get back into brewing after my move. My old well had great water. Here, from what I’m told, not good.
 
I'd think it'd not be a great idea to brew w/that. But then if a water report is telling me something is (UNSAFE), I'm not sure I'd want to drink it at all.

Get that RO, then you're basically starting at zeros and build it up.

Get to reading..there is a lot of literature out there on water chem.
 
Thanks for the tag. Here's a link to the page with the "Intro to Brewing Water Treatment (PDF)" presentation.

http://sonsofalchemy.org/library/

That preso from your HBC along w/your commentary here and there started the "WTF --> Oh...wait..I think I get it now....." movement going in my head.
 
That water should be re-evaluated, as it's not fit for human (or even pets) consumption if that is accurate. RO is the way to go.

As far as water chemistry, it can be very simple. I learned little by little, and found the "less is more" works for me. For some very basic info, there is a three-part article here (little bits at a time): Brewing Water for Beginners - Brewer's Friend Then two more short articles follow, if you're still interested in it. It's very short, designed for the very beginner in brewing water.
 
Whoa. "Paging Russ @Buckeye_Hydro!" :oops:

There's a lot of issues there - the nitrates is indeed the ball buster health-wise but may be solvable.

I may be wrong (I don't think so) but looking at that water report I suspect you should install a water softener for general household water use - and in front of an RO system. Hopefully Russ will chime in with some recommendations...

Cheers!
 
I will be giving Russ a call this week. I’m giving my cats bottled water. I’m in the process of rebuilding my house. The new roof (trusses) and sheeting will be up by the end of the week. I’m hoping to be in by the end of the year.
I plan on getting another water test from Russ to compare it with the Wards.
 
That water should be re-evaluated, as it's not fit for human (or even pets) consumption if that is accurate. RO is the way to go.

As far as water chemistry, it can be very simple. I learned little by little, and found the "less is more" works for me. For some very basic info, there is a three-part article here (little bits at a time): Brewing Water for Beginners - Brewer's Friend Then two more short articles follow, if you're still interested in it. It's very short, designed for the very beginner in brewing water.
+1.
I also learned little by little and also found that less is more. Brewer's Friend has a Basic Water Chemistry Calculator (under Tools-->Calculators) so you can see the effect of brewing salt additions on your water (I start with distilled for a blank canvas) ... as well as an Advanced Calculator in which grist information and salt additions are entered and mash ph is estimated (other, similar tools such as Bru'n'Water and EZ Water Calculator are also free and good). Good stuff. I started with the "Balanced Profile" as a target and tweak only slightly from there - again, less is more ... oh, and don't pay attention to those city profiles. Keep it simple.
 
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