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

[marshbrewer]

eah that looks about right, although that's at the high end of dosage which maybe isn't ideal for a Cali common. Perhaps some dilution with Ashbeck or RO would reduce the amount of CRS required.

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. As you can see, my water is hard as nails so often the calculated dosage of CRS is quite high for lighter styles. For beers, such as lager, that then don't really suit the other minerals I understand CRS adds, would phosphoric acid be a better choice?

 

[strange-steve]

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. As you can see, my water is hard as nails so often the calculated dosage of CRS is quite high for lighter styles. For beers, such as lager, that then don't really suit the other minerals I understand CRS adds, would phosphoric acid be a better choice?

I would say so, yes. I'm not sure what the upper limit for phosphoric acid is before it becomes noticable (I've never actually used it) but I suppose you could even use a combo of phosphoric and CRS if necessary.

 

[Clint]

I'm just playing with my kh and CA kits...can unused kh liquid be put back in the bottle?

 

[Crystal_Ball]

I'm just playing with my kh and CA kits...can unused kh liquid be put back in the bottle?

As i use the syringe exclusively for each type of kit i put the unused liquid back. Never much for the kh but plenty for CA.

 

[Clint]

Ok thanks.
I have the following values...
KH 91ppm
Ca 75 ppm
Right...going on suggested values per beer type,12l mash water and 20l sparge water with sparge at 30ppm...
Pale ale..
KH
Mash
Add 0.37 m/l CRS (4.4ml) to reduce KH by 70ppm to 20ppm
Sparge
Remove 60ppm to get 30ppm,add 0.32ml/l (6.4ml).
Ca
Mash
Add 0.11g/l gypsum (1.32g)
Sparge
Add 2.2g gypsum

Stout
Increase KH to 120ppm add bicarbonate of soda at 0.05g/l (0.6g)
Treat sparge as for pale ale

Am I on track with this?
Cheers
Clint

 

[Clint]

Anyone..?

 

[strange-steve]

OK first, when off you say you have 91ppm KH presumably that's converted to alkalinity from dKH?

If so then your calculations look correct, although you could add a little more gypsum to the pale ale if you wanted to accentuate the hops a little more. Even 0.22g/L would be fine.

 

[Clint]

Thanks Steve! Yes that's the alkalinity conversion. Phew.....took a bit of mulling over to start but your guide really takes the fear out of it!
Now to order some "stuff"....
Thanks again!
Clint

 

[Crystal_Ball]

I’m after confirmation of my calculations which are very simple but want peace of mind.....
Instead of using 50/50 tap and ashbeck water I’m planning on using 75% ashbeck for my next brew to decrease CRS additions. My alkalinity is - tap 240 & ashbeck 20.

Does that give me 75 for alkalinity?

 

[-Bezza-]

I'm trying to input my water values into Beersmith 3, based on the water profile report and the KH Salifert test thingy.

Beersmith is after the following (with my values added)

Calcium (Ca) - Unknown
Magnesium (Mg) - 2.9ppm
Sodium (Na) - 30.25ppm
Sulfate (SO4) - 27.33ppm
Chloride (Cl) - 51.60 ppm
Bicarbonate (HCO3) - Unknown

The KH result was 4.5dKH which, multiplied by 17.9, is giving an alkalinity reading of 80.55ppm. The water report is stating "Alkalinity as CaCO3" of 80ppm - wondering if doing the test was redundant since I already have the number!?

The post here (https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/brewing-water.8801/#post-86367) is suggesting I need to multiply this answer by 1.22 to get the Bicarbonate number. I note that if I type the figure of 98.27ppm in the Bicarbonate box, Beersmith is calculating Alkalinity of 81ppm as CaCO3 so this is suggesting I'm on the right lines. Does that sound correct?

I also have a Hardness (Total) as CaCO3 figure of 136ppm.

Is there any way to deduce the Calcium figure from any of this, or do I need to go and get another test kit for this?

Again, if by trial and error I enter a figure of 188ppm in the Calcium box, Beersmith calculates the Effective Hardness as 136ppm, i.e. to agree to my water report. But then my Residual Alkalinity comes out as -55ppm (negative). Would that be possible?

 

[strange-steve]

I’m after confirmation of my calculations which are very simple but want peace of mind.....
Instead of using 50/50 tap and ashbeck water I’m planning on using 75% ashbeck for my next brew to decrease CRS additions. My alkalinity is - tap 240 & ashbeck 20.

Does that give me 75 for alkalinity?

Yep :thumba:

 

[strange-steve]

The KH result was 4.5dKH which, multiplied by 17.9, is giving an alkalinity reading of 80.55ppm. The water report is stating "Alkalinity as CaCO3" of 80ppm - wondering if doing the test was redundant since I already have the number!?

It's unusual for a water report to include that value, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was redundant because it's not uncommon for this value to fluctuate considerably.

The post here (https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/brewing-water.8801/#post-86367) is suggesting I need to multiply this answer by 1.22 to get the Bicarbonate number.

Correct.

But then my Residual Alkalinity comes out as -55ppm (negative). Would that be possible?

I don't use RA myself, but yes it is possible, and often desirable, to have negative alkalinity. Hard water with low alkalinity, as you would have for an IPA for example, would have a negative RA.

I also have a Hardness (Total) as CaCO3 figure of 136ppm.

Is there any way to deduce the Calcium figure from any of this, or do I need to go and get another test kit for this?

It can be estimated using a hardness calculator which gives about 50ppm calcium.

 

[-Bezza-]

Thanks @strange-steve - you're a legend.

My water report gives high, median and low values which is kinda useful. Annoying that they've given the alkalinity figure but not the calcium!

At least I have some figures to plug in now and can use these as a basis for figuring out why impact water has.

 

[Clint]

I've been on to my water supplier who gave me further water info.....
Hardness Clark..5.41...??
Chloride 14.12
Free chlorine under 0.28
Iron under 9
Nitrate 4.47
pH 7.48
Sodium 9.9
Sulphate 33
A bit confused...lots!

 

[strange-steve]

I've been on to my water supplier who gave me further water info.....
Hardness Clark..5.41...??
Chloride 14.12
Free chlorine under 0.28
Iron under 9
Nitrate 4.47
pH 7.48
Sodium 9.9
Sulphate 33
A bit confused...lots!

For now you can ignore all that, as long as you know the alkalinity and calcium, which you do, you can adjust these as necessary which is the main objective of water treatment.

However once you've got the hang of the basics, you can have a look at the more advanced guide and the values for sulphate and chloride will be useful for that

 

[Clint]

Thank you! I got three water companies within a 10 mile radius...only one could supply the info yet I think all the water comes from the same place!!

 

[GingerBalls]

I'm back brewing after a gap of 20 years. Kids have grown up! Want to get my water right and so bought the 2 test kits.
Having done the tests it took no time at all to get a colour change 3-4 drops for each kit. 20-30 ppm on both counts.
Looking through other posts it seems my water is similar to Tesco bottled?
Would I be right in thinking for a pale ale I should only need to crank up the Calcium with a little Gypsum?
Thanks in advance...

 

[DixeySJ]

If it was me, I would do a ‘test’ brew with water as it comes, or you won’t have a baseline to compare. It might taste fine, thereby saving you some trouble!

 

[Clint]

My beer tastes ok but if I can do better...

 

[Ben034]

I'm back brewing after a gap of 20 years. Kids have grown up! Want to get my water right and so bought the 2 test kits.
Having done the tests it took no time at all to get a colour change 3-4 drops for each kit. 20-30 ppm on both counts.
Looking through other posts it seems my water is similar to Tesco bottled?
Would I be right in thinking for a pale ale I should only need to crank up the Calcium with a little Gypsum?
Thanks in advance...

Depends on the beer you're making. You may want to check you water company report for chloride / sulphate ratio. Depending on what you're making you can then either up the sulphate (hop forward beer) or the chloride (malt forward beer). There's some exceptions for certain beer styles. Both will increase calcium.