Here’s an opportunity to post your water report for other people to see. Please say where you’re from and any other relevant info that might allow people to see if your water might be like theirs.
I get my water from a well. I’m about 10 mi. NW of Noti OR.
pH 7.4
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 164
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.27
Cations / Anions, me/L 2.8 / 2.7
ppm
Sodium, Na 11
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 34
Magnesium, Mg 7
Total Hardness, CaCO3 114
Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 19
Chloride, Cl 3
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 90
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 74
“<” - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit
Dearborn, Michigan from March 2009 (I’ll update when I can get the new one from the city). This report is from the Water Works plant, Detroit city water:
Mg 8
Ca 30
Na 13
Cl 10
Sulfate 31
Total Hardness 106 (CaCO3)
Total Alkalinity 87 (as CaCO3)
TDS 130
pH 7.28
From a spring in the Little Belt Mountains of central MT. Just got the Ward Labs report not too long ago and am still working on differnt treatments for different styles. The water itself tastes great.
Location : DRY WOLF SPRING, MT
PH…8.1
Sodium, Na…2
Calcium, Ca…48
Magnesium, Mg…3
Total Hardness, CaCO3…174
Sulfate, SO4…3
Chloride, Cl…1
Carbonate, CO3…6
Bicarbonate, HCO3…184
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3…161
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.
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.
