Water profile..should I use RO?

windquest · Joined: 13 May 2018 Posts: 27 Location: Apache Jct, AZ

While I am still in the building stage at my new location in AZ, I thought I would take Kal's advice and send a water sample off to Ward Labs to see what I am dealing with before brew day.....Here are the results....I was not expecting this at all...Maybe I should stop drinking it with TDS at 1048! Comments please

pH 7.7
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 1048
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 1.75
Cations / Anions, me/L 15.0 / 14.7
ppm
Sodium, Na 202
Potassium, K 17
Calcium, Ca 96
Magnesium, Mg 12
Total Hardness, CaCO3 290
Nitrate, NO3-N 1.4 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 22
Chloride, Cl 355
Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3 190
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 156
Total Phosphorus, P < 0.01
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

Henry

**kal** · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 2:04 pm Post subject:

That's got some pretty high levels of stuff in it that we care about for brewing. You have:

Calcium, Ca 96
Magnesium, Mg 12
Sodium, Na 202
Chloride, Cl 355
Sulfate, SO4 66 (We want SO4 which means you multiply by SO4-S by 3)

The compare that to what I mention in my water adjustment guide and the various profiles I use/recommend myself: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/water-adjustment?page=3

windquest · Joined: 13 May 2018 Posts: 27 Location: Apache Jct, AZ

Thanks Kal for you fast and thoughtful reply. I already corrected the SO4, the water report was 22. I was concern about the TDS. My wife and lived on a sailboat for 10 years cruising the world and monitored our ro system carefully and anything over 800 was really bad! With a hardness level so high, we were thinking about a water softener, but with these levels, I am not so sure....except that I won't brew with softened water and I think that your suggestion of using RO water is sound. So now is the question of getting an RO system or just buying distilled, and of course correct it up. At these levels, I would have to use 75% RO water anyway to get in the ball game.

This is a private water company so it is hard to tell much about the origin. The good news is that I have some time to figure out what to do as I still have a months work or more before 1st brew on the new system.

Thanks very much Kal,

Henry

**kal** · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 10:11 pm Post subject:

You’re welcome Henry!

windquest · Joined: 13 May 2018 Posts: 27 Location: Apache Jct, AZ

Your absolutely right, no beer from this......heck, I not sure I want to drink it.....in fact, without a charcoal filter, I don't...just taste BAD.\

Henry