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Got a Water Report for our Well... It's some... strange... water... Advice?

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  • Got a Water Report for our Well... It's some... strange... water... Advice?

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    Hey Guys,

    We are located in central Illinois, in a rural farm building. We are too far from any muni water to even think about that as an option, so well water it is. The good news is that the well is 550 feet deep, and the water starts at about 50 feet deep, so we have endless amounts of it. The bad news, is that we just got our water sample results, and it seems wonky. If any of you are better at reading a water report than I (most of you probably are), could I get some feedback on what all we need to do? My initial thought is we may have to RO the water, then re-treat. I'm hoping that's not the case.

    Best,

    Lincoln Slagel

  • #2
    You'll be killing yourself with that bicarbonate hardness. We have 130 ppm of bicarbonate in our water and it's a major headache, especially in the hot liquor system. I have to clean our Rinnais every two weeks, and empty out about 15 gallons of lime scale from the HLT every few months.

    The sodium looks high enough to call it brackish.

    Whole-house treatment seems to be in order.
    Timm Turrentine

    Brewerywright,
    Terminal Gravity Brewing,
    Enterprise. Oregon.

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    • #3
      Agree. Because of the high sodium, the only realistic option is to RO treat. Because of the high Ca, as part of the carbonate / bicarb, it would not be good for anything much other than Burton Type pale ales and bitters - so if you are thinking of doing anything else, the most sensible option is to RO treat for this.

      Never seen a mineral content like it - though one of our Tadcaster aquifer waters came close - but this had (has) all sorts of other rubbish as well as high Na and bicarbonates. I wouldn't even bother attempting partial treatment and blending - not worth the hassle. As Timm says, you will need to treat everything - CIP and wash down water included.
      dick

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      • #4
        Id re-test to make sure, But it looks like your buying an RO system.
        Brewmaster, Minocqua Brewing Company
        tbriggs@minocquabrewingcompany.com
        "Your results may vary"

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        • #5
          Yes, the sodium, chloride, and alkalinity levels are far higher than you'd prefer in brewing. But the first question to ask is: Has this water been run through a water softener??? I doubt that it has since the chloride level is high.

          Without demineralizing this water with RO filtration, I don't see much use in brewing with it.

          PS: The iron level is also right on the edge of acceptable. Might be tasting a bit metallic or bloody.
          WaterEng
          Engineering Consultant

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