[pete b]

I would still be afraid of the possibility of chemical pollution within the creek.  The EPA has made a lot of progress in cleaning the waterways but if someone handed me a beer made with water straight from, say, the Cuyahoga River here in N.E. Ohio (which runs just a mile from my house) he wouldn't appreciate my response.  After all, it wasn't that many years ago that the Cuyahoga caught fire.

With that said, there are a pair of videos on Youtube by Glenn who lives in, I believe, Denmark.  He saw a documentary on 'how beer saved the world' and tried his own experiment.  Using water from his backyard fish pond, he brewed a batch of beer.  The point was to show brewing beer purified the (non-chemical polluted) water so as to be safe to drink.  Back in the day, drinking beer was much safer than drinking water.  His fish pond, however, was a closed system, unlike a creek where you have no idea what might have gone into that creek upstream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-SEFCOAIjc

this is a good point. If you can be confident there is no chemical polution the beer making process takes care of everything else safety wise. that by no means means its good water taste wise for any given beer style.

[euge]

I saw that video. Bamforth used water from a filthy duckpond. The beer was a hit.

[Stevie]

I saw that video. Bamforth used water from a filthy duckpond. The beer was a hit.

Must be the same thing I saw.

[klickitat jim]

Ok, then Duck Fever. But either way, using creek or pond water is going to end in you being a fan of one of these schools.

[euge]

The point to all of that is why people drank beer in the first place. Most water available you didn't even want touching your skin.

So apart from chemical contamination, heavy metals and the like I wouldn't be afraid of pathogens from the creek as a source for your brew water.

[b-hoppy]

I'm sure the brewers in California are looking at ways to become more creative with their available water and may even be looking at cleaning up and reusing their waste water like this:  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/01/28/381920192/why-dump-treated-wastewater-when-you-could-make-beer-with-it

[Pinski]

Ok, then Duck Fever. But either way, using creek or pond water is going to end in you being a fan of one of these schools.

Easy there Jim,

GO DUCKS!

[beersk]

There was a Brewing TV episode where they used straight lake water and they said they couldn't tell it was brewed with lake water. So, it could probably be done in the OP's case.

[dkfick]

There could be plenty of things you wouldn't want to drink in that surface water that you can't taste... I'm not saying the beer wouldn't taste good... Just maybe it's not the wisest idea.  I'm sure doing it once and having maybe a pint of it and sharing it all out would be fine.. but maybe not so great for you if you drink it all yourself or do it frequently for all your beers... 

I could just be paranoid about what these companies put into our air and water (and therefore rain).  But I don't trust it.  Then there is also organic pollutants like animal feces and decaying animal bodies etc... YMMV is all i'm saying. 

[denny]

I agree, Dan.  For me, it wouldn't be worth it.

[chumley]

Unless there is some mining activity upstream, I wouldn't worry about your creek's water being polluted.  Definitely get it tested, though, for common ions.  I once brewed a brown ale with water from a friend's flowing well and it tasted terrible - I later learned that the water had a high iron content, although it tasted alright to drink.

As others pointed out, boiling the water will take care of any concerns.  It's the coolness factor. 

[DW]

For now I think I'll just say screw it.  I guess I could walk up the creek as far as I could to see if anything looks suspicous.  Would Ward labs be able to tell me if there were pollutants?  From a practicality standpoint, taking water from my creek makes no sense.  From a novelty standpoint, it seems worthwhile. Kinda like how breweries/distilleries bragg about their own water source.  I could, in essence, makes a faulty boast that my beer was sourced from the crystal NC mountain streams, therefore it must taste delicous, etc. 

[klickitat jim]

For now I think I'll just say screw it.  I guess I could walk up the creek as far as I could to see if anything looks suspicous.  Would Ward labs be able to tell me if there were pollutants?  From a practicality standpoint, taking water from my creek makes no sense.  From a novelty standpoint, it seems worthwhile. Kinda like how breweries/distilleries bragg about their own water source.  I could, in essence, makes a faulty boast that my beer was sourced from the crystal NC mountain streams, therefore it must taste delicous, etc.

I believe ward can do pollutants. Just keep in mind that they can't predict what might be dumped in it later, or what critter might die in it...

[dkfick]

..or if someone living along the same stream has cousin Eddie over and he dumps his waste tank into it.

[klickitat jim]

..or if someone living along the same stream has cousin Eddie over and he dumps his waste tank into it.

Black Tank IPA?