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Water Profiles incorrect, what to do?

Jason_Otto

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If I find a mistake in the water profiles is there someone to contact about correcting that in future editions?  The profile for Milwaukee, WI lists the calcium and magnesium hardness correctly at 96ppm and 47ppm respectively for a total hardness of 143ppm (medium hard water).  Milwaukee's complete Consumer Confidence Report from 2013 lists the concentration of metallic calcium and magnesium at 34ppm and 12ppm respectively.  I work for the Milwaukee Water works and I know these data are correct.

The profile for Chicago, IL which uses the same water source, Lake Michigan lists the calcium and magnesium as 34ppm and 11ppm respectively.  This would total 45ppm total hardness (very soft water).  The hardness of Chicago water is similar to Milwaukee's about 149-150ppm.  The Chicago Consumer Confidence Report is not listing calcium and magnesium hardness, rather they list the concentrations of metallic calcium and magnesium as can be seen from the Milwaukee data.

Are the data listed for calcium and magnesium the hardness or metallic concentrations?  As listed now these data are being used interchangeably and incorrectly.
 
Jason_Otto said:
If I find a mistake in the water profiles is there someone to contact about correcting that in future editions? 

Send it to; Beersmith [at] beersmith [dot] com.

I work for the Milwaukee Water works and I know these data are correct.

Excellent! It's nice to have a reliable source.

This must also mean that you know the mineral numbers in any municipal supply fluctuate during the year and change their averages over time. The water profiles have been sourced from involved BeerSmith user, like yourself, that help keep the information up to date. All of the data in BeerSmith comes as a template of what most brewers use. The best part is that it's user adjustable as things change.

 
The values I quoted for Milwaukee are from the 2013 report which is the median value.  For Chicago its from the 1st quarter 2015 report.  I'll have to look, it may report averages.  We test water all through the distribution system, I'm a mile or so from an library we sample at weekly.  I have water data for my corner of the city that's very up to date, the values for chloride and sulfate only swing a few ppm.  But if I'm trying to go from my water to say, Dublin, I want at least ball park values.
 
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