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Author Topic: Post your water report  (Read 195335 times)

narvin

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #75 on: September 07, 2010, 06:29:48 pm »
AJ deLange has a post on the Brewing Network forum about something he just found out about the Ward Labs report (if you don't know who he is, let me just say that when he writes about water chemistry I read it and hope I understand what he has to say).   If you look at the reports, SO4 is listed as SO4-S, which means the number reported is the sulfur.  AJ says to multiply by 3 to get the Sulfate as ppm.

You can read it here.
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21815


This makes sense... Sulfate of 4 seemed low!  Thanks.

Offline blueskies

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #76 on: September 08, 2010, 03:02:48 pm »
Hey Denny - Thanks for posting your water analysis.  Mine is almost identical, from my home well in western Washington, a few points more magnesium and slightly less chloride.  Do you commonly do water additions or adjust pH, or can you do OK without the bother?  I am about to do my first AG, and was going to try without additions the first time.  You might save me a bad first batch if I really have to do some fiddling.  Thanks for your time.

BTW - I grew up in your neck of the woods - Cottage Grove.  I have family on Cook Road and Sheffler Road, which are even closer to you.  I followed work north, but visit the old stomping grounds often.

Bruce


Offline denny

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #77 on: September 09, 2010, 11:03:55 am »
Hey Denny - Thanks for posting your water analysis.  Mine is almost identical, from my home well in western Washington, a few points more magnesium and slightly less chloride.  Do you commonly do water additions or adjust pH, or can you do OK without the bother?  I am about to do my first AG, and was going to try without additions the first time.  You might save me a bad first batch if I really have to do some fiddling.  Thanks for your time.

BTW - I grew up in your neck of the woods - Cottage Grove.  I have family on Cook Road and Sheffler Road, which are even closer to you.  I followed work north, but visit the old stomping grounds often.

Bruce



Hey Bruce,

Let me know if you;re back in the area.  I'm just a couple miles from both Cook and Sheffler.

I brewed for many years and batches doing no more water treatment than a tsp. of gypsum in the boil for IPAs and a tsp. of CaCO3 in the mash for dark beers.  Won enough awards that I figure that must have been pretty close.  But in the last year I started being concerned about the clarity of very light beers, and wondered if I could get better balance by doing some adjustment for other styles.  I've been doing more treatment and watching my pH more.  I think it's bveen improving my beers, but I'm still experimenting and evaluating.
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Offline hike20

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #78 on: September 15, 2010, 04:09:47 pm »
Near Stone City in NE Iowa. Private well. Report from Ward Labs:

pH: 7.5
TDS: 413
EC: 0.69
Cations/Anions: 8.0/7.5

All numbers are ppm
Sodium, Na: 6
Potassium, K: <1
Calcium, Ca: 90
Magnesium, Mg: 39
Total Harness CaCO3: 388
Nitrate, NO3-N: 6.9 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S: 13 (so 39 ppm SO4)
Chloride, Cl: 13
Carbonate, CO3: <1
Bicarbonate, HCO3: 355
Total Alkalinity CaCO3: 291

Randy

Offline enso

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #79 on: September 23, 2010, 02:17:14 pm »
I just recieved my results from Ward labs.  First time I have ever known anything about the water I use.  Though I do not know what it means...  yet.

West Barnet, Vermont.  U.S.A. from a roadside spring off of Harvey's lake.

pH 8.2
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 157
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.26
Cations / Anions, me/L 2.5 / 2.7

Sodium, Na 1
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 45
Magnesium, Mg 2
Total Hardness, CaCO3 121
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 6  (18 ppm)
Chloride, Cl 1
Carbonate, CO3 9
Bicarbonate, HCO3 120
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 112
Fluoride, F 0.01
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

I realize it will probably vary greatly throughout the year.  I already noticed one change since I have been using it just a month ago.  I mixed up some starsan with it when we moved in.  No problem.  Couple of weeks back I mixed some and it immediately clouded up!  That is generally a sign of hard water correct?  This report was from a sample I sent in last Friday.
Dave Brush

Offline phillamb168

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #80 on: October 18, 2010, 10:37:49 am »
My tap water is GOD AWFUL and I still haven't gotten an official report back, so here's what I've been using since I moved here (Chamarande, France) - what do you think?

Eau de source, La Montille, 63360 Saint-Beauzire, Auvergne, France:
(mg/l except where otherwise noted)

Cations:
----------
Calcium: 4.0
Magnesium: 1.0
Sodium: 3.0
Potassium: 0.8

Anions:
---------
Chlorides: 0.8
Nitrates: 2.1
Nitrites: 0.05
Sulfates: 0.4
Bicarbonates: 23.4

Silica: 19.12
ph: 6.7
Dry residue at 180 deg C: 43.58 mg/l
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #81 on: October 18, 2010, 01:57:24 pm »
That looks like water I would like coming out of my faucet, except that the Nitrates look higher than what I am used to seeing.  If you look at my post on the first page of this thread, you will see what hard water with high alkalinity looks like.

Maybe some of the water experts who post here can give more wisdom.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2010, 06:35:54 pm by hopfenundmalz »
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Offline 1vertical

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #82 on: October 20, 2010, 12:18:25 pm »
Maybe some of the water experts who post here can give more wisdom.

Ok here is my water report and I could use some pointers to help me make good lagers and or ipa with
this stuff ....like how to modify it to get the results I want.....

Done by WAMCO local water/mineral lab

Water is from a private domestic shallow surface well....,.<20' deep
Central Wyoming Platte River alluvium


reported in milligrams per liter unless other wise depicted

conductivity , umhos/cm @ 25C    1089

pH, Units                                      7.42
Solids, Total Dissolved                           684

Sodium, (Na)                                           175
Potassium, (K)                                           2
Calcium,  (Ca)                                          101
Magnesium, (M)                                       20


Sulfate, (SO4)                                         335
Chloride, (Cl)                                            48
Carbonate, (CO3)                                       0

Bicarbonate (HCO3)                                  337
Nitrate (NO3)                                           1.3
Total Alkalinity (as CaCO3)                     277
Total Hardness  (as CaCO3)                      334
Total Hardness as grains per gallon             20

Sodium Absorption Ration  (SAR)                4.2


ZERO coliform Bacteria!


Should I just go get some RO from the machine at Albertson's and add a gallon of mine to make lagers?
A little aciduated malt perhaps??
« Last Edit: October 20, 2010, 10:36:20 pm by 1vertical »
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #83 on: October 20, 2010, 02:21:23 pm »
I would make IPA with that water as is, and use distilled/DI water with a little of it added to make a Czech pils.  German pilsners generally have higher mineral content than Plzen, so depending on the kind you're going for your water could be fine - it has some similarities to Dortmund water.

How much did it cost to get it tested?  I tried some of my local places but they all wanted way more than Ward Labs.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline 1vertical

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #84 on: October 20, 2010, 10:32:17 pm »
Thanks Tom. The proprietor is a personal friend of mine...and I got it for half
normal cost....not for public disclosure.... but I believe that is more than ward labs
charges,just that I did not have to pay for shipment so it was prolly comparable.
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

Offline revolutionisbrewing

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #85 on: November 04, 2010, 10:09:03 pm »
My water is from Carvin's Cove Reservoir in Roanoke, VA...

Sulfate  12.3 mg/L
Calcium hardness as CaCO3   37.2 mg/L
Calcium 14.9 mg/L (estimated)
Total Alkalinity  41.8 mg/L
Chloride  4.39 mg/L
Total Hardness  54.1 mg/L
Magnesium Hardness  16.9 mg/L (estimated)
Magnesium 4.06 mg/L (estimated)

For those that care, this is the note I received explaining the drop in sulfates and calcium by about half since last year:

These parameters are checked annually.  The Cove has changed it's treatment
process which may be the reason for the Sulfate fluctuation.    We will be
sampling again this month (June) to compare last year's results and this will give
me a better indication.  The previous drought may affect the water
hardness.
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Conditioning: Belgian Double IPA with Brett C, Flanders Red, All-Brett Pale

Offline gimmeales

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #86 on: November 05, 2010, 04:49:01 pm »
Very soft clean water for me living N. of Seattle:

Calcium: 26.7
Magnesium = 0.37
Alkalinity as CaCO3: 23
Sodium: 0.95
Chloride: 2.6
Sulfate: 1.2

Has wreaked havoc on the efficiency of my dark beers, will be making some adjustments next time 'round.

Offline uisgue

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #87 on: November 08, 2010, 07:48:05 am »
This is from my Ward Labs report for Brookings, OR (On the Oregon Coast at the CA border)

pH    7.4
Total Dissolved Solids Est     76
Cations/Anions, me/L     1.1/ 0.9

Na       11
K        <1
Ca        9
Mg        2
Total Hardness, CaCO3    31
NO3-N   0.3(Safe)
SO4-S   1
Cl         4
CO3    <1
HCO3   40
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3     33
Doug Hickey
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Offline denny

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #88 on: November 08, 2010, 09:25:09 am »
That's some pretty nice water, Doug.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline tygo

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Re: Post your water report
« Reply #89 on: November 15, 2010, 08:54:34 pm »
Just got a new report:

pH 7.8
Na 27
K    4
Ca 25
Mg  8
Total Hardness, CaCO3  96
SO4-S 8
Cl 37
Bicarbonate, HCO3 77
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3  63

There are definitely some variations from the report I got a year ago.  This indicates softer water with less calcium, way less sulfates and more chloride than the previous report.  I ordered a bunch of test supplies from Ward this time around and I'm going to submit one sample a quarter and track the changes to my water. 
Clint
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