[abraxas]

My sister is going to make a batch of wine tomorrow from a kit.  She accidentally bought purified water instead of spring water, so I told her it would be best to use tap water and to dechlorinate it.  Looking into this I am finding that my city likely uses chloramine so it would probably be best for her to use Campden tablets to dechlorinate/clean the water.

I am wondering how much is the right amount to use.  http://www.byo.com/component/resource/article/906-i-recently-moved-to-a-city-that-uses-chloramine-in-the-water-supply-it-was-suggested-that-adding-sodium-metabisulfite-to-the-water-would-clear-the-beer-of-this-compound-is-this-true states that one 1/2 ounce campden tablet will chlorinate 20 gallons.  My tablets are Sodium Meta and they are .7 grams each which would mean I would need approximately 5 for a similar ratio.  I have also read that the sodium meta is 1/2 as strong so she would likely need 10 tablets.

It seems obvious that my old Campden tablets are not the standard 1/2 ounce K-meta that is the standard today.  Is Sodium Meta ok to use (it seems like potassium meta is preferred)?  Should she use 1/8 or 1/4 ounce, or should she go with some other method of de-chloramination?  There is a brew store by my work and it would only delay it.

Also, since I don't know much about this, how long is it before Campden tablets deactivate.  It seems like they work pretty quick and deactivate just as quickly but I always though I had read that one should wait a day after adding them to add yeasy, maybe I am misremembering....

Thanks

[beerocd]

My sister is going to make a batch of wine tomorrow from a kit.  She accidentally bought purified water instead of spring water,

Go out and buy Spring Water. Easier, cheaper. Just look at it this way: 6 more gallons of water less than $10, Screwed batch of wine...what 70 to 180 depending on the kit? The time you spent researching this I bet you coulda bought the other water already.  

You can use the purified water for mixing up your sanitizer.

[dontblake]

Why not just throw some brewing salts in that purified water?
Assuming of course you have some Gypsum, Baking soda, Salt, Epsom Salt, Chalk laying around.

[abraxas]

My sister is going to make a batch of wine tomorrow from a kit.  She accidentally bought purified water instead of spring water,

Go out and buy Spring Water. Easier, cheaper. Just look at it this way: 6 more gallons of water less than $10, Screwed batch of wine...what 70 to 180 depending on the kit? The time you spent researching this I bet you coulda bought the other water already. 

You can use the purified water for mixing up your sanitizer.

Of course, but then I wouldn't' learn anything.  I brew enough that I don't want to be stuck buying spring water all of the time.  It's enough money and waste of containers/time, plus I have no guarantees of consistency on the source (maybe I could research this).  Being able to throw a tablet in some water the night (or 24 hours before I brew) seems a whole lot easier.

Until this point I had always assumed that the chlorine in the water was reduced/eliminated just by bringing the water up to temp for my mash/sparge.  I had no idea about the chloramine in my city and lower degree of efficiency of boiling for removal. 

I know I could invest in some type of filtration system, but then I have to worry about other minerals being stripped from the water.

[mrdrysdale64]

My understanding it that it takes one camden tablet (potassium metabisulfite) to treat 20 gallons of water. I generally carbon filter 10 gallons of water at a time (I have two 5 gallons containers) and add one quarter of a tablet (crushed) to each container. I let them sit anywhere from over night to 24 hours. I am "assuming" that this takes care of the chloramines. I leave the containers open also. I am "assuming" that the chloramines are gassed off at this point. One of these days I am going to send a filtered, treated water sample to ward labs.

As far as using purified water for your wine kits; I assume you mean distilled water? There are enough minerals and nutrients in the must for a good fermentation. I am more worried about the tap water changing the wine than what might be missing from purified/distilled water.

[abraxas]

As far as using purified water for your wine kits; I assume you mean distilled water? There are enough minerals and nutrients in the must for a good fermentation. I am more worried about the tap water changing the wine than what might be missing from purified/distilled water.

No, its RO filtered water and sold as "Purified Water".

I see a number of sources saying that the extract contains enough trace minerals for the yeast to work just fine, others state that it is fine as long as you add some yeast nutrient.  I told my sister to take some tap water and throw in a Campdem tablet and to make the wine tomorrow, I think this should be ok.  We have decent enough tasting water in my opinion and I'd rather not her risk a poor fermentation.

[Hokerer]

I am wondering how much is the right amount to use.  http://www.byo.com/component/resource/article/906-i-recently-moved-to-a-city-that-uses-chloramine-in-the-water-supply-it-was-suggested-that-adding-sodium-metabisulfite-to-the-water-would-clear-the-beer-of-this-compound-is-this-true states that one 1/2 ounce campden tablet will chlorinate 20 gallons.  My tablets are Sodium Meta and they are .7 grams each which would mean I would need approximately 5 for a similar ratio.  I have also read that the sodium meta is 1/2 as strong so she would likely need 10 tablets.

1/2 ounce campden tablet??  that can't be right, can it?  That would be one huge tablet, yes?  I've just been using one quarter of the normal size campdem tablets like you get from Northern Brewer.

[ndcube]

I just plunk in a whole tab for a 6 gal batch of wine and don't bother trying to eyeball a quarter tab.  If it was fresh grapes you'd be using 1 tab per gallon to kill wild yeast anyway.

I used to use bottled water but I switched to using my city water + campden and I haven't noticed any drop in quality.

[blatz]

I let them sit anywhere from over night to 24 hours. I am "assuming" that this takes care of the chloramines.

sorry, this is a little off topic, but you only need about 20 minutes for the campdens to work, AFAIK.

[beerocd]

has any wine been made yet?

[ndcube]

I let them sit anywhere from over night to 24 hours. I am "assuming" that this takes care of the chloramines.

sorry, this is a little off topic, but you only need about 20 minutes for the campdens to work, AFAIK.

Not sure where I got this idea but if you crush it up good and it disolves then I was under the impression that the reaction was pretty instantaneous.

[abraxas]

Not sure where I got this idea but if you crush it up good and it disolves then I was under the impression that the reaction was pretty instantaneous.

The reaction is fact but I think you want the sulphur to dissapate so that it doesn't effect the yeast.

My sister made her batch of wine but I noticed this morning that there was no airlock activity.  Looking through her kit, I found the packet of yeast unopened (woops!).  Hopefully nothing else got hold, it's in a room with a lot of potential contaminate sources...we'll see.