Why I Use *Primo* Water Brand When Brewing

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FireNightFly

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Ive found what I personally believe to be the best tasting water on the planet. First, let me say Primo is Evironmental Conscience, thats a huge plus to me. Next, they totally remove all chemical from there water and then inject it with minerals, which provide a great taste that is not on quenching, but good for you.

Here is a link to there website .... if you havnt tried brewing with, it you have to give it a try just once ... i guarantee it will increase the taste of you beer.

http://primowater.com/
 
It's $13 for 5 gallons!? Which means the water would cost twice as much as my other ingredients.

I can respect that they are environmentally conscience, but I doubt I could ever pay that kind of money for water.

But if it works for you than that is all that matters.
 
It's $13 for 5 gallons!? Which means the water would cost twice as much as my other ingredients.

I can respect that they are environmentally conscience, but I doubt I could ever pay that kind of money for water.

But if it works for you than that is all that matters.

There is a $7 return rate for you bottle, so you pay 6.99 for the 5g of water.
 
It's $13 for 5 gallons!? Which means the water would cost twice as much as my other ingredients.

I can respect that they are environmentally conscience, but I doubt I could ever pay that kind of money for water.

But if it works for you than that is all that matters.

How environmentally conscious can a bottled water company be? To be truly environmentally conscious, I would think using tap water that requires no extra packaging (however "green" it may be), that is already transported to my home without the use of any fossil fuels, would be the way to go, and I know what minerals are in my tap water and can carbon filter out any chemicals.
 
How environmentally conscious can a bottled water company be? To be truly environmentally conscious, I would think using tap water that requires no extra packaging (however "green" it may be), that is already transported to my home without the use of any fossil fuels, would be the way to go, and I know what minerals are in my tap water and can carbon filter out any chemicals.

I pick mine up when i go to kroger for groceries.
 
Ive found what I personally believe to be the best tasting water on the planet. First, let me say Primo is Evironmental Conscience, thats a huge plus to me. Next, they totally remove all chemical from there water and then inject it with minerals, which provide a great taste that is not on quenching, but good for you.

Here is a link to there website .... if you havnt tried brewing with, it you have to give it a try just once ... i guarantee it will increase the taste of you beer.

http://primowater.com/

So they are taking ground water or probably municipal tap water, running it through filters and RO equipment and then adding back in some mineral content then putting it in plastic bottles and selling it for over a $1 a gallon. How does that translate to an environmental conscience? There are plenty of bottled spring waters available across the country which are simply taken out of Earth and bottled. You can also use a simple home water filter to easily take off flavors and sediment out of any tap water. I'm glad you make good beer with it but it isn't any different to what Coke and Pepsi sell as bottle water.
 
I pick mine up when i go to kroger for groceries.

I was referring more to the environmental impact of producing the bottles and delivering the bottles of water to stores like Kroger from their production facilities. Tap water is pumped from a reservoir to the treatment facility, where it is then pumped to a tower and pressure pushes it to my house... or to bottled water production facilities where it is filtered again, flavored with minerals, packaged and delivered to grocery store shelves. Just sayin', tap water is the environmentally conscious way to go, unless you want to collect your own rain water and filter it to brew with.
 
Most city water either comes from underground sources, such as aquifers and wells, or from reservoirs. Basically this means the water comes from surface runoff, so the increasing use of fertilizers for farming and residential lawn maintenance leads to a buildup of nitrates, phosphates and other harmful compounds in the soil and in the water. Detergents, insecticides, herbicides and anything else put on the ground will eventually reach the water table, albeit in diluted form. Toxins or poisons dumped on the ground or 'stored' near water runoff also pose problems when these chemicals seep down into the soil and eventually into water reserves. Nitrates in water are especially hazardous, causing blue baby syndrome, and boiling the water doesn't fix the problem, it only increases the concentration as it's a mineral compound and not a living organism that can be killed.
 
Most city water either comes from underground sources, such as aquifers and wells, or from reservoirs. Basically this means the water comes from surface runoff, so the increasing use of fertilizers for farming and residential lawn maintenance leads to a buildup of nitrates, phosphates and other harmful compounds in the soil and in the water. Detergents, insecticides, herbicides and anything else put on the ground will eventually reach the water table, albeit in diluted form. Toxins or poisons dumped on the ground or 'stored' near water runoff also pose problems when these chemicals seep down into the soil and eventually into water reserves. Nitrates in water are especially hazardous, causing blue baby syndrome, and boiling the water doesn't fix the problem, it only increases the concentration as it's a mineral compound and not a living organism that can be killed.

That is all true. However, the technology behind modern filtration systems is outstanding. The cleanliness of the Primo water (which i have used. but i bought it for the bottle not the water) is no different than the $0.25 per gallon water filling stations. The mineral bill may be different resulting in a different taste.

But as for me I am with home filtering. at $7 a bottle you need 1.5 bottles to do a 5 gallon batch. That means in 15 batches of beer I could have paid for an in house reverse osmosis water filter system which I have not just for beer, but for every day drinking. $30-60 a year in filters at that point. Lot's cheaper. Way more green. As convenient as turning on the tap.
 
my tap water makes outstanding beer. no way i'll pay those prices for "Primo" water unless there's 24k gold flecks floating inside.
 
I tell ya what fellas. You make two batches, one with your water and one with primo .. and if it dont turn out good, ill drink them both =D
 
How environmentally conscious can a bottled water company be? To be truly environmentally conscious, I would think using tap water that requires no extra packaging (however "green" it may be), that is already transported to my home without the use of any fossil fuels, would be the way to go, and I know what minerals are in my tap water and can carbon filter out any chemicals.

+100 most "green" companies are all about marketing.
 
hippies.
love em or hate em.
understand them or not.

my depleted uranium boil kettle is the shining star of my homebrew club. it holds temp like crazy and is made of 100% recycled material.

some say i'm a hippie with my head up my ass, but i don't care. somebody's got to do it.
 
I guess the question I have is it more environmently friendly for 1000 people to own Osmosis machines and tap filters ... or to let a large company do it for them? Expertise and knowledge lead to less waste, imho.

would 1000 people going to pick up these things lead to less fuel cost and materials? Or would a company who uses things like hybrid/ethenol delivery vehicles on a tight delivery plan & reusable corn made bottles be more environmentaly sound?
 
Most city water either comes from underground sources, such as aquifers and wells, or from reservoirs. Basically this means the water comes from surface runoff, so the increasing use of fertilizers for farming and residential lawn maintenance leads to a buildup of nitrates, phosphates and other harmful compounds in the soil and in the water. Detergents, insecticides, herbicides and anything else put on the ground will eventually reach the water table, albeit in diluted form. Toxins or poisons dumped on the ground or 'stored' near water runoff also pose problems when these chemicals seep down into the soil and eventually into water reserves. Nitrates in water are especially hazardous, causing blue baby syndrome, and boiling the water doesn't fix the problem, it only increases the concentration as it's a mineral compound and not a living organism that can be killed.

you do know that the whole safety/purity angle pitched to you from bottled water companies is complete bull **** right? where do you think *primo* gets there water from? from the same herbicide/pesticide/detergent filled sources everyone else does.

if it makes a superior beer and you're willing to pay the price, more power to you and by all means keep it up (no one likes drinking a sub par beer :mug:). I just can't justify 1+ a gallon when my Brita tap filter does just fine for pennies on the dollar.

here is a neat little article about bottled water vs. tap from the natural resources defense council.
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp
 
you do know that the whole safety/purity angle pitched to you from bottled water companies is complete bull **** right? where do you think *primo* gets there water from? from the same herbicide/pesticide/detergent filled sources everyone else does.

if it makes a superior beer and you're willing to pay the price, more power to you and by all means keep it up (no one likes drinking a sub par beer :mug:). I just can't justify 1+ a gallon when my Brita tap filter does just fine for pennies on the dollar.

here is a neat little article about bottled water vs. tap from the natural resources defense council.
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp

If you could only taste Columbus, Ohio water bro ... you would understand why. But we are talking about 12 cents a beer here .... no one here can tell me they havnt went to a bar an paid 5 dollars for a pint of something good. SO 12 cents is nothing for a bottle ... hell most here pay 2.50 cent a gallon of gas and dont even get to taste it, hehe.
 
Primo may indeed have some environmentally conscious practices, and may have a great taste. To be honest though, no company that bottles there water is truly environmentally conscious. It takes the equivelant of 3 liters of water to manufacture a 1 liter plastic bottle, which is the common size bottled water is sold in. Also a heat source and electricity is required to manufacture and fill the bottle. So certainly from a conservation standpoint, as well as an energy useage standpoint, using tap water is much more environmentally friendly.

The united states has some of the safest water in the world running out of our taps. This is assuming you are on a public system and not a well, which is beyond the control of the local water authorities. It is not perfect, and certainly some areas have particularly hard water that is more difficult to treat, therefore not quite as ideal. A lot of money was put into these systems so that we could have safe drinking water, but the bottling companies have invested large sums of money to convince Americans that these supplies are less than ideal so they can sell the bottled alternatives.

From a beer perspective there is no one water that is ideal for beer, unless you are always making a similiar style. Very light beers like pilsners, and wits require very light mineral profiles in the water, very dark beers like stouts and porters require more heavy mineral contents to hit their flavor profiles. The only way to accomplish this is to have water with a known mineral profile and dilute, or build up minerals as necessay to fit the style. This can be accomplished by using RO or distilled water and building it up, or by having a consistent water source that you have had a mineral analysis run on.

There are some regions that have a mneral content that is dead center on the scale and can get away with brewing most beers, being just a hair mineral heavy for light beers, and just a bit light on heavy beers. I understand Southern CA has such water.

Other than that, certainly use what works, and if you like the taster of beer made with Primo water, than you should continue to use it. Just don't buy into all the hype that is more environmentally conscious. They are using a lot of unnecessary energy and resources manufacturing the containers.
 
If you could only taste Columbus, Ohio water bro ... you would understand why. But we are talking about 12 cents a beer here .... no one here can tell me they havnt went to a bar an paid 5 dollars for a pint of something good. SO 12 cents is nothing for a bottle ... hell most here pay 2.50 cent a gallon of gas and dont even get to taste it, hehe.

oh I've had some bad bad tasting tap water. and I can completely understand NOT wanting to use it. (and really, you're right, what's an extra 6 dollars. . .) I just find it funny when people say bottled water is safer/better for you than tap when more often than not, the opposite is true.
 
oh I've had some bad bad tasting tap water. and I can completely understand NOT wanting to use it. (and really, you're right, what's an extra 6 dollars. . .) I just find it funny when people say bottled water is safer/better for you than tap when more often than not, the opposite is true.

Greg Im not disagreeing with you. THis wansnt really a topic about how evironmental friendly bottled water is. Its about taste.

When i taste water, it should be tasteless. However most tap water has a lingering taste that displeases me. TO BE HONEST, if most of you loved your tap water, you wouldnt need to make lemonaid or things to enhance the taste. Lets get real! If our tap water was so great, we wouldnt need to mix it or drink sodas and beer.

Im not saying primo is perfect, but if you have a ****ty tasting water, then your gonna have a ****ty tasting beer ........... fact!
 
Greg Im not disagreeing with you. THis wansnt really a topic about how evironmental friendly bottled water is. Its about taste.

When i taste water, it should be tasteless. However most tap water has a lingering taste that displeases me. TO BE HONEST, if most of you loved your tap water, you wouldnt need to make lemonaid or things to enhance the taste. Lets get real! If our tap water was so great, we wouldnt need to mix it or drink sodas and beer.

Im not saying primo is perfect, but if you have a ****ty tasting water, then your gonna have a ****ty tasting beer ........... fact!

I agree with you as well. I know the thread wasn't supposed to be about the environmental impact, but I saw enough replies that went that direction to want to chime in. :)

but yeah, bad ingredients = bad results. 6 more dollars to make a beer you truly love to drink or 6 less dollars for a beer you don't want to drink at all. that's a no brainer.
 
I agree with you as well. ...
but yeah, bad ingredients = bad results. 6 more dollars to make a beer you truly love to drink or 6 less dollars for a beer you don't want to drink at all. that's a no brainer.

I agree with this too. My point was that from a cost stand point there are more economical ways to get the results you want.

True from a cash outlay stand point 7-10 for a batch beats the 100-150 and the 3-5 hours needed to buy and install an in home solution, but from an amortized stand point the later is the most economical.

When I come across situations like this I will usually go for the I-Can-Do-Now approach, and save up for the best solution.

You all know how awful hose water can taste. I just hooked up new filter to my brew cart that connects via garden hose, and the water coming out the clean side tastes just like spring water. $30 at HomeDepot. That's not even going to the RO method that cost $$$. It is rated for 700 gallons.

It takes 10-15 minutes to get a batch of water, but all I have to do is hook it up and have a home brew... and its cheap.
 
I HAVE used Primo water to brew with, but i didn't know they added minerals back into it and I added more, so the beer was nasty. Now I know.

Of course, now I just use the bottles to collect my own RO water from my sink and add baking soda to it and Calcium Chloride to the mash.
 
Most city water either comes from underground sources, such as aquifers and wells, or from reservoirs. Basically this means the water comes from surface runoff, so the increasing use of fertilizers for farming and residential lawn maintenance leads to a buildup of nitrates, phosphates and other harmful compounds in the soil and in the water. Detergents, insecticides, herbicides and anything else put on the ground will eventually reach the water table, albeit in diluted form. Toxins or poisons dumped on the ground or 'stored' near water runoff also pose problems when these chemicals seep down into the soil and eventually into water reserves. Nitrates in water are especially hazardous, causing blue baby syndrome, and boiling the water doesn't fix the problem, it only increases the concentration as it's a mineral compound and not a living organism that can be killed.

All water comes from two sources ground and surface; be it city, county, bottled, well, or other. The best example of ground water is a well that extends into a water aquifer. Surface water comes from either reservoirs or rivers, here in St. Louis it comes from either the Missouri, Mississippi, or Meramec rivers. Surface water is directly impacted by run-off, and pesticides and herbacides, notably atrazine, have the largest impact. We invest A LOT of money (not to mention time, testing, and expertise) to remove atrazine and other farming agents from drinking water. I can now only speak for water in St. Louis; however, phosphate in drinking water is negligable (<0.1ppm) and most of that is added to help sequester calcium. The rest ends up in the mains as a from of corrosion control. NO2 and NO3 and non-detectable in the water, indicating that they are present in concentrations less than 1 part per trillion. Further, and Nitrates (blue-baby) are issues more commonly associated with waste-water plants; due to the large population of micro-organisms used to break down the waste, and the ability to produce Nitrates and Nitrites. The detergents, as well and other household cleaners (and products and by-products used to make methamphetamine) disrupt the natural cycle of the waste-water plant, and kills the micro-organisms.

The EPA (and MO-DNR) put very tight regulations on surface drinking water, and those regulations are constantly being tightned. The amount of oversight and monitoring of surface water treatment plants (I exclude ground water because many personal wells are not regulated by the home/land owner very well) is incredible, and all of the above mentioned (detergent, herbicide, pesticide, NO2, NO3, pharmaceutacles, etc.), while important to monitor, are (my opinion) completely blown-out of proportion and have a insignificant effect on public health. There are NATURAL agents that are a FAR greater risk to public health than Nitrates. Again, this is not to downplay the significance of monitoring for known toxins (natural and man-mande); however, most are a formality of doing business and not a real cause for concern. A well run wastewater facility, in conjuction with a well run drinking water plant, will eliminate 99.99% of material from the water. Much of which is shipped off to "bottle water" facilities where they remove 0.001% of the remaining material then sell to you for >$2.00 per 20 oz. bottle (instead of the $0.01 pergallon that your water treatment plant charges you!).

With all of that said, some facilities produce water that is not aesthetically pleasing; due in part to either source water, but most often times treatment constaints (read: cost$$$). Most often, (especially for small rural plants) it is cheaper to use different treatment methods or chemicals that will produce safe; but usually unpleasant water. There is no doubt you are correct that:
FireNightFly said:
but if you have a ****ty tasting water, then your gonna have a ****ty tasting beer ........... fact!
and there is no arguing with that.
 
There's certainly more to it than picking a good tasting water. I'd rather start with tap water with a mineral content report before picking a bottled water. If my tap water wasn't fixable with salt additions and frequently required dilution, I'd install a $100 RO system which has a 80 gallon payback on buying it from the store. The plus is not having to recycle the bottles.
 
barracudamagoo,

You seem to know a fair amount about water, and you're in STL, so do you know anything about Ballwin's water, in particular? We moved here about a year ago, and the water at our house is terrible. I won't dare use it for brewing, and I can barely drink it to take the occasional Tylenol.

Any thoughts?

(PS I happen to use Primo these days, but I've used Deer Park quite a bit in the past.)

Thanks,
 
all you people using bottled water need to do yourself a favor and install an RO system, they are pretty cheap now days and you can get drinking water from it to.... from your tap.
You'll also save a ton of money over the years.

As far as the primo water being better for brewing, I guarantee I can build my own profile more suitable for any beer.
 
There's certainly more to it than picking a good tasting water. I'd rather start with tap water with a mineral content report before picking a bottled water. If my tap water wasn't fixable with salt additions and frequently required dilution, I'd install a $100 RO system which has a 80 gallon payback on buying it from the store. The plus is not having to recycle the bottles.

<threadjack>
Where can you get a $100 RO system?
</threadjack>
 
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