They stored the image on a remote server (in this case the url is http://lh3.ggpht.com/_BGa2L64KQdY/S7juNyunL1I/AAAAAAAAADY/0RW5ACRhctw/s640/water_report.png)
And then pasted that url between the img brackets.
Ok then. I guess I’ll just transcribe it.
Thanks for your time.
Pepe
Pepe if you have a gmail account then you can store images in the picasa web albums.
DOWNTOWN, SEATTLE, WA
pH, range 7.86 - 8.49
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 43
Sodium, Na 1.86
Potassium, K .24
Calcium, Ca 21.8
Magnesium, Mg .80
Total Hardness, CaCO3 25
Nitrate, NO3-N .074
Sulfate, SO4-S Not Detected
Chloride, Cl 3
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 18.1
“<” - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit
Honestly, I am still not sure what this all means though - next thing to do is re-read palmer’s section on pH and water. I have pH strips at home, thats a good start!
bbump22–
You’re where I was about 3 months ago. Don’t give up–you’re well on your way to understanding how to make 95% of your beer (the water)taste better.
Here’s what I’d suggest:
For those who want to delve into it more, there are numerous forums (i.e., AHA) and articles online (John Palmer’s “How to Brew” and deLange’s Alkalinity articles are superb). It is a lot of chemistry and it does take a while to get the concepts, particularly when they’re buried in a bunch of equations (I like that JP proves his recommendations, but it does make my eyes glass over). Greg Noonan’s book (New Brewing Lager Beer, Brewers Publications, 1996) has 40 pages on water treatment alone.
Bottom line:
Figure out your water profile for where you live.
Figure out what water profile you need for the style of beer you’re brewing. I used BeerSmith.
Get an inline activated charcoal water filter (the RV filters are about 20-25 bucks at Walmart in the car section)and hook that up to your hose–keep the flow rate low. Get a small plastic hose shut-off valve attachment at HD for a buck-fifty so you can control it better than the spigot by the house.
Get some water cooler jugs (empty ones are about 7 bucks at Walmart and they come with caps). The water supply places like Culligan can do the same. RO water is just 30 cents a gallon at Publix. The amount of distilled or RO water versus local water varies by water profile required by the recipe. Adjust accordingly.
Buy your brew salt additions. Yes, get them all—the 5 major ones are chalk, gypsum, calcium chloride, baking soda, and Epson Salt. The last two you might be able to find at the store, but the first three, and any others, you’ll need to go to your LHBS or online. They’re not expensive, at all—usually less than 4 bucks for 4 ounces.
Buy a scale to measure very minute amounts of salts—usually less than 20 bucks online.
These are good brewing water chemistry websites to check out if you want to do the calculations and you don’t have BeerSmith.
http://braukaiser.com/documents/Kaiser_ … ulator.xls
Thanks Richard - Ill print this out and refer to it this weekend. I was at my LHBS yesterday and picked up a few of those additives you mentioned…just to have on hand when I take the step to monitor pH. I think I will give it a shot on my next batch. I’ll look at the tool on beersmith too.
Thanks! I wasn’t sure if that was machine RO or bottled.
Pretty hard to just nail a water profile dead on isnt it?
In trying to make my water Dublin water I found that close enough is going to have to be good enough unless there are other ways (through use of pure minerals) of doing it.
My water
Sodium… 14
Potassium… <1
Calcium…14
Magnesium…3
Total Hardness CaCO3…48
Nitrate…1.0
Sulfate…4
Chloride…15
Carbonate…<1
Bicarbonate HCO3…37
Total Alkalinity CaCO3…31
Flouride…0.03
Total Iron…<0.01
TDS …110
pH…6.7
Here in Bend, OR our water is:
pH 7.8
TDS 77
Sodium Na 8
Potassium K 2
Calcium Ca 6
Magnesium Mg 4
Total Hardness CaCO3 32
Nitrate NO3 0.1
Sulfate SO4 <1
Chloride Cl 2
Carbonate CO3 <1
Bicarbonate HCO3 51
Total Alkalinity CaCO3 42
The water for San Diego, CA in May 2009:
pH: 7.8
Sodium (Na): 99
Potassium (K): 5
Calcium (Ca): 70
Magnesium (Mg): 25
Sulfate (SO4): 66
Chloride (Cl): 96
Bicarbonate (HCO3): 141
Total Hardness (CaCO3): 279
Total Alkalinity (CaCO3): 115
Waynesville, NC (28786) city water
pH 7.4
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 39
ppm
Sodium, Na 8
Calcium, Ca 4
Magnesium, Mg < 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 14
Sulfate, SO4-S 4
Chloride, Cl 2
Bicarbonate, HCO3 15
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 12
Jealous yet ;D ;D ;D
Minneapolis (Linden Hills area), MN (as of 8/24/09):
pH 7.5
Sodium, Na 13
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 18
Magnesium, Mg 4
Total Hardness, CaCO3 62
Nitrate, NO3-N 1.0 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 9
Chloride, Cl 28
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 27
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 22
Minneapolis (Northeast), MN (as of 8/12/08):
pH 8.9
Sodium, Na 11
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 20
Magnesium, Mg 3
Total Hardness, CaCO3 63
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.3 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 10
Chloride, Cl 25
Carbonate, CO3 4
Bicarbonate, HCO3 19
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 21
St. Louis Park, MN (as of 8/12/08):
pH 7.5
Sodium, Na 10
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 90
Magnesium, Mg 29
Total Hardness, CaCO3 346
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.2 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 7
Chloride, Cl 20
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 371
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 304
I have to do water analyses at work in Indianapolis. I, along with our LHBS, do NOT suggest brewing with the local water. If you do, keep in mind:
Indianapolis metro water supply changes AT LEAST seasonally (and I believe even monthly).
The conductivity ranges from 660 - 1200 umhos and can swing to those extremes within a month.
Also, the free chlorine content can be excessive - a carbon filter is a must. “Leaving it out overnight” won’t work, and anti-chlorinating agents aren’t reliable without knowing the exact Cl concentration.
Here’s the averages/std deviations for the past 3 years (4 analyses):
Indianapolis, IN (Metro)
AVG Std. Dev
pH 7 0.3
Cond. 813 57
Alk. 223 7
SO4 81 7
Chloride 75 5
Total Hardness 310 10
Ca Hardness 198 12
Mg Hardness 89 35
Cu, ppm < 0.05 *
Iron, ppm < 0.05 *
Na, ppm 45 6
K, ppm 5.3 *
Nitrate as NO3, ppm 12.3 *
Silica, Total, ppm 7.4 2.3
Fluoride, ppm 0.7 *
Total Organic, ppm 2.7 *
Turbidity, < 0.1 *
*denotes only 1 analysis performed (Jan 2009)
Well water, Hersey Michigan.
pH 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 258
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.43
Cations / Anions, me/L 4.3 / 4.1
ppm
Sodium, Na 6
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca 50
Magnesium, Mg 18
Total Hardness, CaCO3 200
Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 5
Chloride, Cl 6
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 221
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 181
Baltimore City water, tested by Ward Labs. I ran this through an activated carbon filter before sending it off.
pH 7.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 203
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.34
Cations / Anions, me/L 3.0 / 2.8
ppm
Sodium, Na 21
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 28
Magnesium, Mg 8
Total Hardness, CaCO3 103
Nitrate, NO3-N 2.3 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 4
Chloride, Cl 48
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 59
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 49
This is from the “LAS VEGAS VALLEY WATER DISTRICT 2010 WATER QUALITY SUMMARY”
pH 7.7
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 627
Sodium, 92 ppm
Potassium, 5.4 ppm
Calcium, 78 ppm
Magnesium, 26 ppm
Nitrate, (As Nitrogen)< 0.7 (SAFE)
Sulfate, 245
Chloride, 95
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 134
Makes brewing interesting!
Matt
Helena, MT. The city water draws from two sources-the Missouri River and a mountain source. I believe I fall in the latter:
ph 7.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 58
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.10
Cation/Anions, me/L 1.1/0.9
Sodium, Na 6 ppm
Potassium, K 2 ppm
Calcium, Ca 11 ppm
Magnesium, Mg 2 ppm
Total Hardness, CaCO3 36 ppm
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.2 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 6 ppm
Chloride, Cl 3 ppm
Carbonate, CO3 <1 ppm
Bicarbonate, HCO3 28 ppm
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 23 ppm
Hey, how did you get this info? Or, for updated info, who do I call? I am just starting to think about playing with my water chemistry, but with my carbon filter my water (and beer) is greatly improved already.
1)You can call your local water department to see if they will share the info with you.
But their sample may not exactly be what is arriving at your house.
2)Take a sample from your faucet, and send it off to Ward Labs. ~$26 for a complete test.
I bypassed the filter, ran the water for 10 minutes, and filled the sample bottle.
I wanted to know what’s coming in from the street.
Or $16.50 for the regular test which is really all you need unless you’re interested in the iron and fluoride numbers. I did the complete test the first time around because I was curious but I’ll just be doing the $16 test if I want it retested in the future.