Beginners Guide to Water Treatment (plus links to more advanced water treatment in post #1)

[strange-steve]

The kh reading on the syringe was 0.90 then on the chart in the right hand collum it read 1.2

Just to check first of all, was there 0.9ml left in the syringe or did you use 0.9ml?

 

[chillipickle]

There was 0.9 left.

I looked on the salifert website and they have a chart that also has colums

Reading in ml's, KH value in DKH, Alkalinity in meq/L

My reading from the chart on web site.

0.90

1.6

0.57

The reading on the chart that came with the kit

0.90 and 1.2

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Here you go: How To Use Salifert Alkalinity and Calcium Test Kits

best guide I found. Thanks @strange-steve

 

[Argentum]

1 KH = 17.848 mg/L (ppm). Ditto for 1 GH. Ditto for for dH units in general.

1 mEq/L (or 1 Milliequivalent) of Alkalinity (as CaCO3) = 50.04345 mg/L (as CaCO3)

 

[chillipickle]

Thanks, also if i use 4ml of water + 4 drops of KH-ind, i can use the whole 1ml of KH and it will not turn pink.
I used 2ml of water +2 drops of the indicator and it changed pink at 0.45 then i x2 to come to the 0.90.

Ok couldnt see the woods for the trees moment

Done couple more tests with the 4ml of water and it "just" starts turning pink with 0.00ml of kh in the syringe.

So DKH =15.7 and an Alkalinity of 281.03 (15.7 x 17.9) correct?

 

[strange-steve]

Thanks, also if i use 4ml of water + 4 drops of KH-ind, i can use the whole 1ml of KH and it will not turn pink.
I used 2ml of water +2 drops of the indicator and it changed pink at 0.45 then i x2 to come to the 0.90.

Ah OK I see the problem. You've used the low resolution method but when doing this you multiply the dKH value by 2, not the syringe reading. In other words if you got a reading of 0.45 ml then this is 8.45 dKH, which you then double to 16.9 dKH. To convert this to ppm you multiply by 17.9 which gives an alkalinity of 303 ppm as CaCO3. This is a bit lower than the 349 ppm specified on your water report but certainly plausible.

I would recommend doing another full resolution test (4ml and 4 drops). If you use the full syringe then just refill it to 1.0ml and keep going till it turns pink, the conversion from ml to dKH is linear so it's easy to work out.

 

[strange-steve]

If your low resolution test was accurate then you'll need to use about 1.08ml to get a colour change.

 

[chillipickle]

Thanks steve, done another couple of tests and it just turned very light pink with 0.00ml left
Think i am getting there slowly.

If the alk is at say 280ppm and i want to reduce it to 20ppm for light hoppy ales using crs i would need to add 1.37ml per ltr?

Sorry for being a pain, another couple tests, and it does keep changing to pink (same pink as your first picture) with 0.00ml left , if i add 1 more drop it turns bright pink no good.

The water report if posted was from 1st jan to dec 31st 2019, thats all they had for my post code.

 

[strange-steve]

If the alk is at say 280ppm and i want to reduce it to 20ppm for light hoppy ales using crs i would need to add 1.37ml per ltr?

Yes, which is quite a lot bearing in mind that CRS adds chloride and sulphate to the water, so the resulting profile may not be ideal depending on what you want.

 

[Argentum]

As I see it:

If 1 full mL of titrant (the stuff in the 1 mL syringe) added = 15.7 KH, and you added 0.55 mL (leaving a remainder of 0.45 mL not added), but you halved it, so in reality you added 0.55 mL x 2 = 1.1 mL, then:

1.1 x 15.7 = 17.27 KH

17.27 KH x 17.848 mg/L/KH = 308.2 mg/L Alkalinity

 

[strange-steve]

As I see it:

If 1 full mL of titrant (the stuff in the 1 mL syringe) added = 15.7 KH, and you added 0.55 mL (leaving a remainder of 0.45 mL not added), but you halved it, so in reality you added 0.55 mL x 2 = 1.1 mL, then:

1.1 x 15.7 = 17.27 KH

17.27 KH x 17.848 mg/L/KH = 308.2 mg/L Alkalinity

Essentially yes, I was just using the figures from their sheet and got 303ppm but I won't quibble over 5ppm

 

[chillipickle]

I honestly thought my water wouldn't be very good for brewing, or more trouble than its worth.
At the moment only really intrested in brewing american ipa's

By adding the 1.37ml per litr of crs do you think it will add to much chloride and sulphate and make the water unsuitable for ipa's?

 

[strange-steve]

I honestly thought my water wouldn't be very good for brewing, or more trouble than its worth.
At the moment only really intrested in brewing american ipa's

By adding the 1.37ml per litr of crs do you think it will add to much chloride and sulphate and make the water unsuitable for ipa's?

Well you have two options here. If you treat your tap water to bring the alkalinity down to 20ppm then (going by the figures you listed previously) you will have this approximate profile:

134 ppm calcium
165 ppm sulphate
140 ppm chloride
20 ppm alkalinity

This is maybe a bit higher in chloride than some would use in an IPA, but actually I would happily use this profile. Personally I like a fairly high chloride content in all styles. Maybe I'd add a 1/4 tsp of gypsum to the boil, just to increase the sulphate a little. Why not give it a try to see if you like it?

Another option might be to go half tap water, half Ashbeck which will give this base profile after CRS treatment:

70 ppm calcium
95 ppm sulphate
75 ppm chloride
20 ppm alkalinity

This isn't a bad starting profile and would allow you a bit more scope for variability and customisation.

 

[chillipickle]

Thanks for taking the time to post steve, think i will try the first profile you posted.

Even though we are on a water meter i thought about an RO filter, or i could maybe add say 10 ltrs of ro water to my tap water if that would help.

 

[strange-steve]

Dilution with RO might be good for some styles but for an IPA I would try the first profile to see how you like it compared with previous brews.

 

[chillipickle]

I have a west coast ipa in the fv at the moment just using ashbeck water, i added 1 1/2 tea spoons of gypsum to the 35ltrs i started with.(didnt work any thing out).

Think i will do the exact same brew again at the weekend using your first profile, and see what they are both like.1 brew fridge is empty, so a good excuse.

thanks again.

 

[Crappyfish]

Water treatment is confusing so I emailed my local craft brewery which is about a mile away and asked them. They replied saying they only add Gypsum to their water. I live in Derby BTW.

 

[chillipickle]

Sounds like they did not want to give to much info away crappyfish, them saying we only add gypsum is very little help.

As i have found out from reading through steves guides and other material, you have to know what perameters you are starting with, then depending on what style of beer you want to brew, determines what salt additions you have to add.

It is confusing thats for sure, i think i am slowly getting to grips with the basics.Just keep reading and asking.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Hi @strange-steve. I have a quick question re acid addition timings. You say that this should be added before the water is heated but I use hot water from my combi boiler for brewing. This means it is at about 50+ degrees before I even start. What adverse effects Is this likely to have? Do you think I should add the acid to a small amount of cold water first and then add this to the mash?

 

[strange-steve]

Hi @strange-steve. I have a quick question re acid addition timings. You say that this should be added before the water is heated but I use hot water from my combi boiler for brewing. This means it is at about 50+ degrees before I even start. What adverse effects Is this likely to have? Do you think I should add the acid to a small amount of cold water first and then add this to the mash?

Sorry Mark I just saw your question. Don't worry about it, just add your acids to the warm water. PH (and alkalinity to a smaller extent) is affected by temperature, but as long as your measurements are taken at room temperature then it's all good