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water report help

bowhunter64

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Joined
Jun 4, 2017
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Location
Sarona Wisconsin
every year the state tests my well water and sends me a report because there is a landfill in my township. the only thing that appears to be missing is magnesium the rest is as follows, ph 7.80,chloride 16.4 ppm,sulfate 5.1 ppm,alkalinity total as CaCO3 106 ppm, total dissolved solids 177 ppm. total hardness by 2340b 152. is there enough info here to work with or should I have it tested on my own?
 
As a home brewer I have tried to get a handle on the water I use to brew.  Each time I look into this topic I never get a resolution.  I did get a Water Report from my city and it does not contain the Ions needed for home brewing, ie Ca(Calcium), Mg(Magnesium), Na(Sodium), SO4(Sulfate), CI(Chloride) and NCO3(Bocarbonate).  I called the city water department and they claim they do not check for this.  I just got done reading an article in the March/April issue of Zymurgy on Home Water Analysis Kits.  The article shows these kits are maybe not that accurate.  So again I have no resolution.  I have been using a BeerSmith water profile.  It sounds like that option will not work for you.
 
bowhunter,
  You could send your water out to be tested, but it looks like you have almost everything you need. The ion concentrations are all pretty low, so you might expect your magnesium to be low, also. It is a minor actor, anyway. One of the most important is the alkalinity, and you have that. Since you are on a well your water will probably not change very much as municipal water supplies can. If you really want to know everything you could send a sample out to be tested. If the state report next year comes back much different than this year you could send another sample for testing, otherwise assume it is the same.

--GF
 
Thank you Giga. last weekend I brewed a golden ale recipe that ive done countless times and I ran all my water #s thru BS and guessed mid low range on the magnesium. BS told me to add table salt [non iodized of course],Epsom salt and calcium chloride. I forget the exact amounts but I have them recorded so we will see what a difference it made!
 
I have a similar post out there concerning water.  The good brewers out there stirred me to have my water tested.  The place is called Wards.  Here is the link to the website.

https://www.wardlab.com/BrewersKitOrder.php

Cheers!!!!!!!!
 
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