[quest4watneys]

I was asking an employee at my LHBS about local water and brewing IPA's. He said that it's important to remove chlorine and iron in order to brew a good IPA and that I could achieve both of these tasks by using a carbon filter. However, when I started researching carbon filters, the info I read stated that
they're not very good at removing iron but very effective at removing chlorine. Which is correct?

[wingnut]

Filter will remove some iron, but not all.  Depending on how much iron you have it may be perfect. 

Essentially, my water used to have a metalic taste to it, after running through a filter, it was much better. 

I brewed with the filtered water and won many awards with my lagers and light ales...so I the answer is...they are both right.

The filter may remove enough you can brew with it, but it is not 100% effective... but it likely be effective enough.

[punatic]

Carbon filtration will not remove dissolved iron.  A water softener (salt softening/ion exchange) will remove some.  Reverse osmosis will remove almost all dissolved iron.

Carbon filtration will remove chlorine.  Chloramines require longer contact time with the carbon for removal. 

[hopfenundmalz]

Martin should have some input on this one, as he lives close by.

I would think the alkalinity might also be a problem.

[mabrungard]

A greensand filter is effective at removing iron and manganese. Activated carbon is not effective at iron removal. Ion-exchange is a common iron removal technique and is suitable if the raw water is otherwise free of calcium and magnesium. If there is a lot of Ca or Mg, then the resulting Na or K content of the ion-exchange treated water is likely to be too high to brew with.

[cornershot]

Can't you just toss a magnet into the kettle?

[HoosierBrew]

RO water in Indy for me. Pretty consistent.

[quest4watneys]

Thanks for the info :0)
Jon, do you buy your RO water or have your own RO filtration system?

Martin, we're both pulling from the same water supply. How do you handle it?

[HoosierBrew]

Thanks for the info :0)
Jon, do you buy your RO water or have your own RO filtration system?

Martin, we're both pulling from the same water supply. How do you handle it?

I buy it at a local grocery for ~ 29 cents/gallon. Makes a nice consistent base to build on.

[HoosierBrew]

Thanks for the info :0)
Jon, do you buy your RO water or have your own RO filtration system?

Martin, we're both pulling from the same water supply. How do you handle it?

I buy it at a local grocery for ~ 29 cents/gallon. Makes a nice consistent base to build on.

BTW that price is based on using the big RO dispenser where you fill it your self.  I live near a Meijer and they happen to have a machine. Pretty cheap.

[hopfenundmalz]

Thanks for the info :0)
Jon, do you buy your RO water or have your own RO filtration system?

Martin, we're both pulling from the same water supply. How do you handle it?

I buy it at a local grocery for ~ 29 cents/gallon. Makes a nice consistent base to build on.

BTW that price is based on using the big RO dispenser where you fill it your self.  I live near a Meijer and they happen to have a machine. Pretty cheap.

The Meier in Novi MI recently went up to 39 cents/gallon. I still use it.

[quest4watneys]

The Meier in Novi MI recently went up to 39 cents/gallon. I still use it.

That's cheaper than I would've guessed. I've used the 5 gallon filtered water bottles and it seems they're more expensive. I'll have to make a trip to Meijer right down the street :0)

[punatic]

You may want to check on the type of treatment provided by those bring-your-own-bottle water vending machines.  Many use municipal water, carbon filter it, send it through a UV disinfecting unit, and/or ozonate it, and dispense it by the gallon - basically, city water with the chlorine removed.

The machines that provide water pushed through RO membranes will most likely be marked fairly prominently as being treated by reverse osmosis.

[HoosierBrew]

FWIW quest4watneys, the machine I use (@ Meijer) states that its water is purified by RO.

[brewmichigan]

FWIW quest4watneys, the machine I use (@ Meijer) states that its water is purified by RO.

Same with me.

See the first FAQ for the water I use.
http://glacierwater.com/ask-glacier/faqs/