[Herminator]

Thanks for the feedback.  Here is a more in depth report.  All items listed on the report is listed below.  I am asking, about water quality because while I am new and using extract now, I see myself moving quickly into all grain brewing.  Any suggestions or thoughts on the report below? Thanks for the feedback.  It is much appreciated. 

Antimony μg/L = <1.0
Arsenic μg/L = <1.0
Barium μg/L = 15
Beryllium μg/L = <1.0
Cadmium μg/L = <1.0
Chromium μg/L = <1.0
Copper μg/L = 17
Fluoride mg/L = 0.93
Lead μg/L <1.0
Mercury μg/L = <0.2
Nitrate as Nitrogen μg/L =  Not tested  / <.04 at Entry Point to Distribution System
Nitrite as Nitrogen mg/L =  Not tested  / <.04 at Entry Point to Distribution System
Selenium μg/L = <5.0
Thallium μg/L = <1.0
Total coliforms cfu/100mL = 0
Total Trihalomethane μg/L = 32

Secondary Standards
Aluminum μg/L =  34
Chloride mg/L 3 = Not tested  / 3.1 at Entry Point to Distribution System
Copper μg/L = 17.8
Iron μg/L = 15
Manganese μg/L = 1.0
pH Units = 8.0
Silver μg/L = <1.0
Sulfate mg/L =  Not tested / at Entry Point to Distribution System
Turbidity NTU =  0.19
Zinc μg/L = <100

Chemicals
Alkalinity mg/L = 36.7 N
Ammonia as N mg/L  = Not tested  / <.02 at Entry of Distribution System
Calcium mg/L = Not tested  / 16.4 at Entry of Distribution System
Free Chlorine Residual mg/L = 0.46
Hardness as Calcium carbonate mg/L = 51
Hardness as Calcium carbonate grains/gal = 2.8
Magnesium mg/L = Not tested  / 1.7 at Entry of Distribution System
Nickel μg/L = <2.0 “
Potassium mg/L =  Not tested  / 0.8 at Entry of Distribution System
Sodium mg/L = 3.1

[erockrph]

The rest of your minerals are really low, so I would try a batch or two with your water as is, with a bit of CaCl or gypsum to raise the calcium over 50ppm. I don't see alkalinity on your report, but with hardness as low as it is it's probably not bad.

Sorry to dig up an old post, but I have a few All-Grain batches under my belt now and I've been wondering why I can't get Brunwater to balance my ions. Then I realized I have no alkalinity in my water report (turns out I was using hardness instead). Since I don't have alkalinity in my water report, I was thinking that whatever value brings my Cation/Anion ratio closest to 1 is probably the best guess. Does this sound reasonable?

My water report is copied below. If I plug this into BrunWater, and plug in 66 for my alkalinity, I get 80 ppm Bicarbonate and a 1.01 ion ratio. I will eventually send a sample from my kitchen sink to a lab for analysis, but I'm wondering if this will suffice for the time being. Brewing my first all-grain porter tomorrow, so I'd like to be in the right ballpark.

Well depth of 340 ft in Glocester, RI

Turbidity - 21
Color - 15
Odor - ND
pH - 7.8
Calcium - 18.6
Magnesium - 0.7
Hardness - 49.4
Nitrate Nitrogen - ND
Nitrite Nitrogen - ND
Sulfate - ND
Sodium - 10.6
Chloride - 6.6
Copper - ND
Iron - 0.75
Manganese - 0.07

[mabrungard]

My water report is copied below. If I plug this into BrunWater, and plug in 66 for my alkalinity, I get 80 ppm Bicarbonate and a 1.01 ion ratio. I will eventually send a sample from my kitchen sink to a lab for analysis, but I'm wondering if this will suffice for the time being. Brewing my first all-grain porter tomorrow, so I'd like to be in the right ballpark.

Well depth of 340 ft in Glocester, RI

Turbidity - 21
Color - 15
Odor - ND
pH - 7.8
Calcium - 18.6
Magnesium - 0.7
Hardness - 49.4
Nitrate Nitrogen - ND
Nitrite Nitrogen - ND
Sulfate - ND
Sodium - 10.6
Chloride - 6.6
Copper - ND
Iron - 0.75
Manganese - 0.07

Yes if you have all the other major ions and are missing just one other major ion, you could make an educated guess for that missing concentration.  You did well.  That alkalinity level seems reasonable given the modest hardness.

[punatic]

Turbidity - 21 ?
Yikes!

[erockrph]

Turbidity - 21 ?
Yikes!

Yeah, this sample was from the inspection when we bought the house. At the time the whole-house filter had never been changed, and the irrigation system had been running through it for about 3 years. We do get a lot of sediment from our well, but now that we've gone to a double-length filter and moved the irrigation system to bypass the filter, the water has gotten a hell of a lot better.

[mybeerpants]

Beaverton, OR
Ward Labs Report - 10/5/2012

pH 8.0
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm       49
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm       0.08
Cations / Anions, me/L       0.8 / 0.8

All below in ppm
Sodium, Na     8
Potassium, K     3
Calcium, Ca     3
Magnesium, Mg     2
Total Hardness, CaCO3     16
Nitrate, NO3-N <     0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S     2
Chloride, Cl     3
Carbonate, CO3     3
Bicarbonate, HCO3     28
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3     28
Total Phosphorus, P     0.48
Total Iron, Fe <     0.01

"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

[kdziok]

Attleboro, MA
8/14/2012
Ward Labs Analysis
pH    7.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm    225
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm    0.38
Cations / Anions, me/L    3.3/3.2
Sodium, Na    58
Potassium, K    2
Calcium, Ca    11
Magnesium, Mg    2
Total Hardness, CaCO3    36
Nitrate, NO3-N    0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S    2
Chloride, Cl    77
Carbonate, CO3   < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3    53
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3    44

[flipper]

Phoenix, AZ (Mountain Park Ranch neighborhood)
11/05/2012
Ward Labs Analysis

Before you ask, no, we do not have a water softener.  Seems they named it the Salt River for a reason.

pH 8.2
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 762
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 1.27
Cations / Anions, me/L 11.6 / 12.2
Sodium, Na 171
Potassium, K 5
Calcium, Ca 52
Magnesium, Mg 17
Total Hardness, CaCO3 201
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.2 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 16
Chloride, Cl 287
Carbonate, CO3 9
Bicarbonate, HCO3 162
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 147
Total Phosphorus, P 1.06
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01

And then here's what it looks like after it comes out of the RO system:

pH 7.9
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 202
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.34
Cations / Anions, me/L 2.5 / 2.6
Sodium, Na 49
Potassium, K 1
Calcium, Ca 4
Magnesium, Mg 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 14
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S < 1
Chloride, Cl 74
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 26
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 22
Total Phosphorus, P 1.00
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01

[mabrungard]

That report for the RO system profile is not good.  If it's your system, it needs the membrane replaced.  A properly operating RO membrane will remove at least 94% of the sodium and chloride.  The TDS value should be under 25 ppm.  If this was from a retail RO vending system, having a portable TDS meter can help you avoid wasting your money by buying water from a malfunctioning machine.

PS: That is some crappy tap water!

[hopfenundmalz]

PS: That is some crappy tap water!

When I would go out to Mesa AZ for work, you would remember quickly why no one was really drinking the tap water. Salt river indeed.

The water they get from the lower Colorado is not much better.

[punatic]

That report for the RO system profile is not good.  If it's your system, it needs the membrane replaced.  A properly operating RO membrane will remove at least 94% of the sodium and chloride.  The TDS value should be under 25 ppm.  If this was from a retail RO vending system, having a portable TDS meter can help you avoid wasting your money by buying water from a malfunctioning machine.

PS: That is some crappy tap water!

The machine might just have a NF membrane meant to operate at lower pressures, with 75% salt rejection.
The permeate is not too bad - if it is considered as tap water.  Chloride at 74 mg/L is well below the taste threshold.

[TrippleRippleBrewer]

Straight from the tap through a carbon filter for drinking water.
Southwest Michigan has hard ass water!

Tips and advice on what to do with this for brewing pale ales and lagers appreciated. I have brewed with it for years, occasionally cutting it with RO but usually not.

I have a Bopils fermenting that I put 1 gallon of this water to about 5 gallons RO for both mash and sparge.
Just a shot in the dark basically. This is why I wanted the report from Ward.


pH 7.4
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 472
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.79
Cations / Anions, me/L 8.0 / 8.7
ppm
Sodium, Na 38
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 81
Magnesium, Mg 27
Total Hardness, CaCO3 315
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.3 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 13
Chloride, Cl 78
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 344
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 282
Total Phosphorus, P 0.78
Total Iron, Fe 0.07

[hopfenundmalz]

You have a ground water source, which is similar to mine (3rd post in this thread on page 1).

You sulfates are fairly low, multiply the Ward number by 3 to get the ppm for S04.

The hardness is not a big problem. The alkalinity is. I buy RO water and add the appropriate brewing salts to get what I want for the beer I am brewing. If I diluted to get the alkalinity down, it would just about all be RO, so why bother with dilution.

 

[TrippleRippleBrewer]

Thanks Jeff,
I've yet to try brewing any homebrew using RO and adding salts. I've been just brewing with this water and winging it, and wondering about it. I knew it was hard but didn't know much else until I finally had it tested.
Based on what you've told me, our city tap water is relatively useless for brewing.
I'm actually looking forward to brewing a beer using RO and additions now.

Thanks

[hopfenundmalz]

Use a tool like Bru'nwater to calculate the salt additions when using RO. It helps me dial in for the beer I am brewing.

If you need some alkalinity, get some pickling lime. You can find it at a farm supply store in the canning section. I no longer use chalk, and baking soda only on occasion.