[Richard T]

Tap Water Profile for Jacksonville, FL (Beach Blvd and Hodges) based on average from 9 JEA source well water samples taken on 11/2009. 
(Well pumps used were Ridenour #1-5, 7 and Southeast #1-3; information supplied by JEA Environmental Scientist, B.S. Albritton, albrbs@jea.com).

Alkalinity as Bicarbonate (ppm)          139.3
Alkalinity as Carbonate (ppm)               0.0
Alkalinity Total (ppm)                      139.3
Calcium (ppm)                                 70.3
Chloride (ppm)                                 21.7
Magnesium (ppm)                             31.0
pH                                                   7.0
Sodium (ppm)                                  15.8
Sulfate (ppm)                                 152.9
Total Hardness as CaCO₃  303.0


Estimated Residual Alkalinity              63.55   (using RA = KH – GH/4)
Actual Residual Alkalinity                   46.0    (Using “Mash Residual Alkalinity Adjustment Worksheet Version 2.5 (US Units)
                                                                     by John Palmer, 2008.”)
Chloride to Sulfate Balance               Very Bitter

Richard T

P.S.  IMO, the tap water tastes horrible, and the water softener water tastes even worse.  Only dark and bitter brews can be done with this profile, and even then, they are very astringent and harsh (despite running the JEA tap water through the activated charcoal filter to remove the chloramines beforehand).  To brew good beers in Jacksonville, one must use water calculators (I use BeerSmith), significant percentages of distilled water (50-100%), and salt additions (Calcium Chloride, in particular) if a balanced or malty beer profile is desired.

[euge]

I'm in a similar situation. I can't stand my softened water. The RO is wonderful. One would think if they need to brew 18 SRM beers then all they would need to do for a 9 SRM beer is dilute by 50% with distilled. Doesn't work that way apparently- more like 75% dilution.

[blatz]

thank god I don't live in jacksonville anymore!

[lazydog79]

Cary, IL - deep well in Fox River valley aquifer NW of Chicago (either that or an old limestone salt storage cavern)

Dang, Roy!  I thought my water was hard!  Now I feel better.

Water for Rantoul, IL (Central IL, fed from the Mahomet Aquifer)

Calcium 32ppm
Magnesium 21ppm
Sodium 27ppm
Sulfate10ppm
Chloride 12ppm
Bicarbonate 110ppm

Not bad stout water, but anything lighter than an Amber, and it's store bought RO for me!

[weizen]

Colonial Heights, VA tap water after a whole house carbon filter (typical type bought at big box store)

pH 6.9
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 114
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.19
Cations / Anions, me/L 1.7 / 1.5
ppm
Sodium, Na 20
Potassium, K 3
Calcium, Ca 10
Magnesium, Mg 3
Total Hardness, CaCO3 38
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 10
Chloride, Cl 11
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 33
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 27
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit
Bus: 308-234-2418 4007 Cherry Ave., P.O. Box 788
Reviewed By : Raymond Ward
Fax: 308-234-1940 Kearney, Nebraska 68848-0788
web site
www.wardlab.com
9/4/2009 Copy : 1 Page 1 of 1

[a10t2]

Speaking of RO, has anyone had the water from those grocery store machines tested? I'm just wondering how good a job they do.

[micsager]

How can I get my water tested?  How much should it cost?

[hopfenundmalz]

Speaking of RO, has anyone had the water from those grocery store machines tested? I'm just wondering how good a job they do.

If you go to the 3rd post in the thread, you will find that I posted store bought RO water and my tap water.  Everything was <1 for the store bought RO.  The feed water for the RO is the same as Gail's later in the thread.

[tygo]

How can I get my water tested?  How much should it cost?

http://www.wardlab.com/

Click on "Fee Schedule" on the left and look at the pdf fee schedule document.  You're looking for test W-6 on page 8.  $16.95.

[micsager]

How can I get my water tested?  How much should it cost?

http://www.wardlab.com/

Click on "Fee Schedule" on the left and look at the pdf fee schedule document.  You're looking for test W-6 on page 8.  $16.95.

Thanks Dude - I called the local federal lab, and they wanted almost $400. 

[resto3]

I live in Milford, DE.  Here is our water report for 2009.

http://www.cityofmilford.com/milford/ccr2009Milford.pdf

If anyone can make heads or tails out of it, I'd appreciate it.  Water is still something I have to get down.  I use the water out of the tap and I never treat it.  I'm sure my beer would benefit if I paid a little more attention to this facit of brewing.  Work in progress.

Cheers,

Richie

[xerotime]

Shrewsbury MA

pH: 7.5
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est: 376
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm: 0.63
Cations / Anions, me/L: 5.8 / 5.7

Sodium, Na: 71
Potassium, K: 10
Calcium, Ca: 39
Magnesium, Mg: 6
Total Hardness, CaCO3: 123
Nitrate, NO3-N: 0.7 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S: 9
Chloride, Cl: 138
Carbonate, CO3: <1
Bicarbonate, HCO3: 65
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3: 54

[euge]

Richie that's a weak report for a brewer to follow LOL. Probably OK to brew mid-range beers. Here's two examples and excellent info: read on...

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-3.html

The Nomograph helps as well as the spreadsheet.

http://howtobrew.com/section3/Palmers_Mash_RA_ver2e.xls

[aluminumpark]

Wenonah, NJ

pH 8.2
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 259
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.43
Cations / Anions, me/L 4.6 / 4.3
ppm
Sodium, Na 85
Potassium, K 6
Calcium, Ca 10
Magnesium, Mg 3
Total Hardness, CaCO3 38
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 2
Chloride, Cl 47
Carbonate, CO3 6
Bicarbonate, HCO3 160
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 141

[gail]

For bottled water analyses, try www.bottledwaterweb.com.  Looking around a little, I saw a number of commonly-used bottled waters, including Poland Spring.