Water Report - What a Difference Two Months Can Make

Mashing
1

Check out the differences between these reports. The samples were taken just two months apart. I like the new profile much better, since I can brew without diluting if I want to. Previously several of the ions were too high, requiring dilution. I’d be happy with this one year round.

Fortunately alkalinity didn’t change much, so I was still able to use the old values in Bru’n Water to predict pH pretty accurately until the new report arrived.

4/26/2013
Sodium, Na 92
Potassium, K 9
Calcium, Ca 46
Magnesium, Mg 17
Total Hardness, CaCO3 186
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.3 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 41 (123 as SO4)
Chloride, Cl 103
Carbonate, CO3 6
Bicarbonate, HCO3 103
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 95

6/28/2013
Sodium, Na 39
Potassium, K 7
Calcium, Ca 35
Magnesium, Mg 9
Total Hardness, CaCO3 125
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.7 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 23 (69 as SO4)
Chloride, Cl 41
Carbonate, CO3 9
Bicarbonate, HCO3 103
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 100

My tap water is collected from the Kansas river.

2

Whats the source, the Missouri River? I’d assume any river-sourced municipal water supply would see big swings in mineral content. I’m sure all the rain we’ve had in the upper Midwest has diluted the minerals in the Mississippi where our water comes from.

3

The other thing I was thinking is that the first sample would have been affected by salts used for road treatment.

My water comes from the Kansas river. There is a ton of variation. Some examples from city water reports and my Ward tests back through 2008:

Component / Min / Max
Calcium 35 / 57
Magnesium 9 / 17
Sodium 33 / 92
Sulfate 64 / 123
Chloride 39/103
Bicarbonate 95.6 / 171.2
RA 52 / 100

It’s interesting that many of the min/max values are from my last two reports.

4

Wow, that’s quite the difference. That’s why I’ve recently switched back to brewing with RO and making my own adjustments. At least, I can start from a clean slate and know, pretty much, what my starting water is.

5

Yeah that would be great, but I’m too cheap to do that. I can’t really justify installing an RO system in my house and I’m aiming to keep consumable costs as low as possible.