I was finally able to get a water report from my city, but all the measurements are in mg/l. What is the conversion to get this to ppm? Is there a calculator/spreadsheet I can use that will do this? Maybe Palmer has one? Here is the report: (All measurements are in mg/l)
CHEMICAL PARAMETERS
pH (Field): 8.9 pH (LAB): 8.9
Alkalinity (P) as CaC03 : 8.6
Alkalinity (T) as CaC03 : 139.0
Aluminum as AI : 0.0140
Chloride : 7.8
Sulfate : 10.4
Fluoride : 0.3
Nitrogen as N02 :
Nitrogen as N03 :
Free Carbon Dioxide :
Iron (Field) :
Iron (Lab) : < 0.10
Magnesium : < 0.3
Manganese : 0.006
Calciurn : 0.6
Sodium ’ : 83.6
Potassium : 0.5
Silica :
Total Dissolved Residue : 176.0
Ca+Mg Hardness as CaC03 : 1.9
Zinc as Zn : 0.0055
I am no water chemist (calling Martin…) That is some interesting water if it is ground water. Really low hardness, but the alkalinity is there. High sodium, real low chloride. What is the local geology?
The water report is odd since it doesn’t quite balance and the potential for pipeline corrosion is high due to the very low calcium content. Its unlikely that the city softened this water since its costly to soften to this low hardness and its destructive to piping and plumbing fixtures. The typical municipality will bypass and blend hard water with the softened water to bring the hardness down to moderate levels (under 140 ppm hardness).
The water is probably not from an aquifer that is suffering from salt water intrusion since the chloride levels are not in agreement with the sodium levels. Its also not from an aquifer that is suffering from deicing salt intrusion for the same reason.
This is a soda water profile since its dominated by sodium and bicarbonate (164 ppm HCO3). Fortunately, the sodium content is not astonomical at 84 ppm. That’s not great, but its passible.
Either Palmer’s spreadsheet or EZ water would be suitable. My spreadsheet is nearing completion, but is still awaiting Beta tester comments.
Mississippi Gulf Coast, wells are about 2 miles inland from the coastline. No footnote on the Sodium line, just the way MS Word recognised the characters when I scanned it.
This report is also from Jan of 2005, which seems odd to me that this is the most current one they have on file, esp. since this would have been before Katrina. I will probably end up taking a sample and sending it off to Ward Labs anyway, so I have a better idea what is coming out of my taps. Thanks for all the replies so far…I’ll post back after I send off a sample and get those results back.
That is an area I am not familiar with. I wonder what was laid down in the ground to cause that profile? This is from living in the Midwest you get an idea of what the water will be like, as the glaciers deposited ground up rock, which had limestone in it.
The near surface sediments in the Gulf Coastal plain are typically composed of sands and gravels without a carbonate aquifer. That explains the near lack of calcium and hardness. That Sand and Gravel aquifer stretches westward from just east of Pensacola, FL. That aquifer is typically fed locally from direct rainfall and the ionic content is therefore low. The sediments can sometimes contain iron that leaches into the very soft groundwater. I see that this water does not really have that problem.
Where this aquifer is not affected by salt water intrusion, it is a very high quality water source but can easily be contaminated by spills at ground surface. The sandy sediments allow those contaminants to quickly enter the aquifer.
As I mentioned, there is a bust in the concentrations quoted for this water. Since it is likely suffering from salt water intrusion from the Gulf, its more likely that the chloride concentration is not accurate. It is more likely on the order of over 25 ppm. Still good enough for brewing.