Home tap water analysis

[Wobbly13]

I use local Scottish Water reports that contain actual measurements. Murphy's as well. But our water changes as it's borehole and on a meter. Sadly I cannot afford to waste water with a RO system as local ones use lots of water during the treatment process. Is that correct?
I have also just done a recipe design course with Brewlab Brian Yorson. It was great on brewing water and brewing chemistry. Craft Brew Recipe Formulation - Brewlab £60. Online 1/2 day course.
I now have all his water, recipe spreadsheets and process log sheets a wealth of detailed info. Well worth it IMHO!

@Druncan how do you go about requesting a local water report. I live in Stirling. Thanks

 

[Druncan]

@Wobbly13 I found this first; Water Quality Search - Scottish Water Then downloaded the data. - Your nearest station should be on there and it's freely available. It may be a bit out of date asSW stopped water sampling over Covid but are re-starting.

 

[Wobbly13]

@Wobbly13 I found this first; Water Quality Search - Scottish Water Then downloaded the data. - Your nearest station should be on there and it's freely available. It may be a bit out of date asSW stopped water sampling over Covid but are re-starting.

Many thanks.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I emailed my water authority (Essex and Suffolk Water) asking them for exactly the info I needed and received this very detailed reply:

Thank you for your email which we received on 4 January 2021, requesting information on your tap water profile.

Please find attached the Water Quality report for your area.

For the parameters that do not appear, please see below:

​	Values mg/l​	​	​
Parameters	Min​	Mean​	Max​
alkalinity (HCO3)	200​	210​	220​
calcium	110​	115​	120​
magnesium	9.6​	9.8​	10​

Alkalinity (CaC03) we measure it as hco3 so we have completed a calculation:

HC03 = 1.22 CaC03. 200 / 1.22 = Alkalinity (CaC03) 163.93 mg/l

This information was sourced from a member of our Water Quality Team, which I hope answers your query.

Should you wish to discuss any of the details contained in this email or have any further points you would like to raise please contact me by telephone on 0345 155 0237. Our office opening hours are Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm.


Kind regards

Gaynor Townley

Case Specialist

Customer Care Team

 

[phildo79]

My local water authority doesn't measure alkalinity, just hardness. But I measured the alkalinity with a salifert kit.

Reache out to phoenix analytical via email - nothing back yet.
Sent a text - nothing back yet.
Will try phoning.
Anyone dealt with Neil recently?

 

[jayk34]

My local water authority doesn't measure alkalinity, just hardness. But I measured the alkalinity with a salifert kit.

Reache out to phoenix analytical via email - nothing back yet.
Sent a text - nothing back yet.
Will try phoning.
Anyone dealt with Neil recently?

I dealt with him in the summer of this year. He only runs the tests in batches infrequently, which if I remember correctly is every month.

 

[trueblue]

I emailed my water authority (Essex and Suffolk Water) asking them for exactly the info I needed and received this very detailed reply:

Thank you for your email which we received on 4 January 2021, requesting information on your tap water profile.

Please find attached the Water Quality report for your area.

For the parameters that do not appear, please see below:

​	Values mg/l​	​	​
Parameters	Min​	Mean​	Max​
alkalinity (HCO3)	200​	210​	220​
calcium	110​	115​	120​
magnesium	9.6​	9.8​	10​

Alkalinity (CaC03) we measure it as hco3 so we have completed a calculation:

HC03 = 1.22 CaC03. 200 / 1.22 = Alkalinity (CaC03) 163.93 mg/l

This information was sourced from a member of our Water Quality Team, which I hope answers your query.

Should you wish to discuss any of the details contained in this email or have any further points you would like to raise please contact me by telephone on 0345 155 0237. Our office opening hours are Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm.


Kind regards

Gaynor Townley

Case Specialist

Customer Care Team

I live not far from you and test my alkalinity every brew, and have done for around 15 years, and it has never been that low.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I live not far from you and test my alkalinity every brew, and have done for around 15 years, and it has never been that low.

I don’t test it all the time but your post worried me as I hadn’t done for a while. Just tested mine and found CaC03 = 200 ppm, Ca = 130 ppm

 

[trueblue]

I don’t test it all the time but your post worried me as I hadn’t done for a while. Just tested mine and found CaC03 = 200 ppm, Ca = 130 ppm

When I first had sent a sample to phoenix probably about 6 or 7 years ago a brewer friend of mine sent off at the same time, we both get our water from Hanningfield reservoir and live 6 miles apart, and they were similar but slightly different and not close to the "mean" average of the S&E water reports that were generic. I have found the good thing about our water there is very little variation and I find by getting a phoenix report once a year or so and do my own checks on alkalinity and calcium before each brew I reach the parameters I want.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I have an RO filter so usually use 50% RO and 50% tap water as a base and treat it accordingly from there depending on style. If making a lager I’ll go 80% RO and 20% tap. Tomorrows planned brew is an English bitter which will have 100% tap water as the base.

 

[dave_77]

I have an RO filter so usually use 50% RO and 50% tap water as a base and treat it accordingly from there depending on style. If making a lager I’ll go 80% RO and 20% tap. Tomorrows planned brew is an English bitter which will have 100% tap water as the base.

I do a similar thing. I have a RO filter and also got a Murphy report a couple of years ago. I have saved the my tap water profile from the Murphy report into Brewfather and I then dilute with RO depending on the style of beer. Typically I dilute between 60-85% ROdepending on style of beer. As I had the tap water numbers seemed a bit pointless to use 100% RO and add a load of salts back.
I usually collect around 5 litres in 15 mins with a £35 RO filter and a pump.

 

[RichardM]

My local water authority doesn't measure alkalinity, just hardness. But I measured the alkalinity with a salifert kit.

Reache out to phoenix analytical via email - nothing back yet.
Sent a text - nothing back yet.
Will try phoning.
Anyone dealt with Neil recently?

I emailed him and PM'd him on the JBK forum in December, no reply from either.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I do a similar thing. I have a RO filter and also got a Murphy report a couple of years ago. I have saved the my tap water profile from the Murphy report into Brewfather and I then dilute with RO depending on the style of beer. Typically I dilute between 60-85% ROdepending on style of beer. As I had the tap water numbers seemed a bit pointless to use 100% RO and add a load of salts back.
I usually collect around 5 litres in 15 mins with a £35 RO filter and a pump.

5 litres takes 45 minutes for me as I don’t have a pump. Might have to look into getting one of those.

 

[trueblue]

I emailed him and PM'd him on the JBK forum in December, no reply from either.

I had my water tested in November you might be better contacting him via his website

 

[dave_77]

5 litres takes 45 minutes for me as I don’t have a pump. Might have to look into getting one of those.

Seems a long time..how's your water pressure? Make sure your not making the same error I made when I first got it. I had the flush valve on mine open ..the RO was really slow because it was going straight through ...loads of water through the waste and a similar rate to what your experiencing on the RO. Closed the bypass/flush valve and it the waste flow reduced by 2/3 and RO flow increased by over half. Getting around 2 TDS. I had already purchased the pump because I thought that was the issue until I realised my mistake.

 

[phildo79]

I had my water tested in November you might be better contacting him via his website

That's what I did. Via email and the number provided. Could be any number of reasons, I suppose, but if he hasn't replied to requests from December, it looks a bit ominous.

 

[woolley2002]

That's what I did. Via email and the number provided. Could be any number of reasons, I suppose, but if he hasn't replied to requests from December, it looks a bit ominous.

I have also been trying to get hold of him, sent an e mail a few weeks ago but heard nothing back, have you heard anything now?

 

[phildo79]

I have also been trying to get hold of him, sent an e mail a few weeks ago but heard nothing back, have you heard anything now?

Unfortunately not. I ended up buying a Murphy's test via brew UK.

 

[RichardM]

Unfortunately not. I ended up buying a Murphy's test via brew UK.

Same here. The results were close to the Phoenix analysis a year ago

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Seems a long time..how's your water pressure? Make sure your not making the same error I made when I first got it. I had the flush valve on mine open ..the RO was really slow because it was going straight through ...loads of water through the waste and a similar rate to what your experiencing on the RO. Closed the bypass/flush valve and it the waste flow reduced by 2/3 and RO flow increased by over half. Getting around 2 TDS. I had already purchased the pump because I thought that was the issue until I realised my mistake.

My flow rate has got worse since I posted this. At the weekend I was putting it on and setting a timer for 45 minutes only to return to find the 5l bottle half full. Where is this flush valve?