ph level

[phill71]

I use Johnson test papers to measure my mash ph, which always reads too low, i.e somewhere between 4.6 - 5.0.

I thought the strips might be faulty, as the tap water reading was the same as the mash, so I ordered some more and they're exactly the same.

I always put my water profile into the calculator on this forum and follow the additions faithfully.

Adding the likes of Gypsum and other salts is meant to lower the ph and not raise them as my readings require.

I live in Manchester and I can't understand why my tap water reading is so low...does anyone else get similar readings? and what measure should I take to raise ph to the recommended 5.3??

This is doing my head in and to cap off a really **** day I've got a stuck mash at the mo whilst trialling my new stainless steel false bottom and braided hose set up in my coolbox :sulk:

Phill

 

[winelight]

Will your water company have an analysis on their website? I believe some do.

 

[graysalchemy]

Manchester water i slow it is soft isn't it ie acidic. :wha: :wha:

I use united utilites water report and bung it into the forum calculator top left of the forum. The thing you will need to test for is Alkalinity using safale test kit to determine the Alkalinity as HCO3.

As I said Manchester water is usually soft though on odd ocassions when we have been in Drought conditions the alkalinity has risen and you need to add some CRS to reduce it but very rarely.

:thumb:

 

[anthonyUK]

GA - I'd be wary about using the terms soft/hard when discussing alkalinity as it is not a given that soft or hard water has a certain ph.

John Palmer has a video on this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJj__jEkFUE
Hard/soft water starts at about 8:00 mins.

This post is duplicated on JBK.

 

[graysalchemy]

GA - I'd be wary about using the terms soft/hard when discussing alkalinity as it is not a given that soft or hard water has a certain ph.

John Palmer has a video on this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJj__jEkFUE
Hard/soft water starts at about 8:00 mins.

This post is duplicated on JBK.

That is true but from my experience Manchester water is low in pH except in times of drought when less water is taken from the lake district and more comes from other more alkaline sources.

 

[Aleman]

I use Johnson test papers to measure my mash ph, which always reads too low, i.e somewhere between 4.6 - 5.0.

I thought the strips might be faulty, as the tap water reading was the same as the mash, so I ordered some more and they're exactly the same.

I'm based in Blackpool, and my water is similar to most Manchester water supplies (That come of the moors) ie it has very low alkalinity . . . . BUT the pH (both measured by me and the water company - UU) is still around 7.4 to 8.2 . . . and the main reason for this is that water companies artificially raise the pH to avoid corrosion of the pipework.

I do believe that the water in Burnley does drop down to 6.5 on occasion, when it rains heavily and the water runs straight off the peat bogs into the reservoir.

I think the issue is really going to be the pH Strips themselves. Some are fine, and quite useable (I've used These from Hop And Grape and These From The Homebrew Shop), and some are just dire and not really used for anything other than determining if something is Acid, Neutral or Alkaline.

what measure should I take to raise ph to the recommended 5.3??

Until you know that your mash pH is lower than the 'ideal' range of 5.2 to 5.8 take no action. Take a look at the United Utilites Website enter your postcode and select the detailed report. Look at what they report your pH is, if it is the same as your readings then great, if not then your pH Papers are useless.

 

[phill71]

I'm familiar with the united utilities website, as I input the various profiles into the calc on this forum.

That said, I have not seen any reference to published ph data...please let me know where it is hidden, as it's not in with the detailed report that I use.

Cheers

 

[Aleman]

I have not seen any reference to published ph data...please let me know where it is hidden, as it's not in with the detailed report that I use.

It's listed as Hydrogen Ion . . . it confused me for a minute today when I was looking at mine to find out what my normal range is :) . . . Of course it's not the hydrogen ion concentration as we know that pH is minus log to the base 10 of the hydrogen ion concentration . . . but then water companies are not great at expressing the real units of some of the things they measure (Hardness and alkalinity spring to mind)