Water report doesn't contain bicarbonates or residual alkali

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Davidman
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Water report doesn't contain bicarbonates or residual alkali

Post by Davidman » Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:48 pm

Wondering if any of you clued up on water chemistry could help me out. I'm biting the bullet and trying to get my head around water treatment, so I've got a water report for my area, and as far as I can see there is no way of determining the bicarbonate level. It does include a total hardness, but am I right in understanding that isn't the same thing?

This is what I have so far:

PH 7.2
Calcium ~25ppm
Magnesium ~6ppm
Sodium ~14ppm
Sulphate ~70ppm
Chloride ~23ppm
Bicarbonate ?????

The total hardness quoted is about 53ppm. I'm not sure this is any use?

Here's a link to the full report:

http://www.ywonline.co.uk/web/WQZ.nsf/0 ... %20WSZ.pdf

Any help would be massively appreciated.

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Goulders
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Re: Water report doesn't contain bicarbonates or residual al

Post by Goulders » Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:32 pm

Have a read of the threads and on the extras tab about water and Salifert test. Get yourself a Salifert kit (plenty of info on the forum) to work out your total alkalinity as CaCO3.

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Aleman
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Re: Water report doesn't contain bicarbonates or residual al

Post by Aleman » Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:36 pm

That is the big issue with reports from water companies they don't include what we need. Allegedly you can ring and ask them to provide it and if they actually understand what you are asking for, the will do so . . .OTOH you are more than likely to end up with Hardness :roll:

PM wallybrew on here to get a proper useful analysis done, or buy a Salifert Total Alkalinity (KH) Test kit and measure it yourself.

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Eric
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Re: Water report doesn't contain bicarbonates or residual al

Post by Eric » Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:59 pm

I read calcium is given as 43ppm.
Hardness is in basic terms a measure of the combined influence of calcium and magnesium. Expressed as calcium in that table it is the amount of calcium plus an equivalent amount of calcium that would replace the existing magnesium, i.e. 43 + 1.65 x 6 = ~ 53ppm.

You should measure alkalinity before and after treating your water as it can vary and the results of some treatments are not always predictable. A Salifert kit from Ebay costs less than £10 and should do a good 100 tests. From that part of the water profile I'd estimate bicarbonate would be in the area of 70ppm. All that said, water company reports are not necessarily a reliable source for brewing purposes. Consider getting a sample of your water tested by WallyBrew.

Residual alkalinity is a theoretical measurement. Res. Alk = Alkalinity -(Ca/3.5 + Mg/7).
Many, myself included, think it is of limited merit and accordingly causes more problems than it has resolved.
Without patience, life becomes difficult and the sooner it's finished, the better.

Davidman
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Location: Leeds

Re: Water report doesn't contain bicarbonates or residual al

Post by Davidman » Sun Jan 17, 2016 1:21 pm

Cheers for the replies. I was hoping I'd missed something that was clearly obvious to someone in the know, haha. Looking at the difference in the min/max samples I'm not sure I trust the numbers anyway.

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