Very Soft Water

[don'tmakemegobackinthebox]

another question about water treatment i'm afraid. i've emailed dwr cymru (our water company) and they've quoted alkalinity at 15.25 mg/l as hco3. i take it this isvery soft and after reading through grahams book i need to add some calcium?

i've since e-mailed dwr cymru back to try and get the specific figures so that i can put the figures in to grahams water treatment calculator. i think i'm making it all a bit complicated though.peviosly i've added 1 level tsp of gypsum to mash and 1 to boil. does this sound about right or should i be doing more?

[don'tmakemegobackinthebox]

i've answered my own question. a very nice man from dwr cymru e -mailed me back a water composition report with all the figures i need to put in to the water treatment calculator. easy peasy.

one final question.

half the figures are in mg/l and the other half ug/l. can i just enter the values straight in or do they need adjusting?

[don'tmakemegobackinthebox]

one more.

the volume to be treated figure, do i enter mash water volume or total volume of spage water?

[Digby Swift]

half the figures are in mg/l and the other half ug/l. can i just enter the values straight in or do they need adjusting?

1ug = 0.001mg

so the divide the value in ug by 1000 to get it expressed as mg.

the volume to be treated figure, do i enter mash water volume or total volume of spage water?

Treat all water you use that will enter the mash tun. Don't forget your campden tablet or sodium metabisulphate powder to get rid of the chloramines in your water.

[Jim]

I have moderately soft water and routinely treat all of my brewing water, not just the mash liquor.

I've been reliably informed that a reasonable level of calcium is important both in the mash and the boil, so by treating the lot I ensure both processes have enough.

EDIT: Re-reading Digby's post, that's pretty much what he's saying as well.

[Digby Swift]

No harm in repeating the point

[shaunreynolds]

Not sure if anyone is still looking at this thread but i didnt want to create a new one being a newbie!
I brew with very soft water and have had some trouble with pale ales / lighter bitters with something not quite balanced...usually turning out a little dull with no stong hop flavour coming through. I have since tried to ramp up the hop quantities to counter this but with limited success.....also this approach may prove expensive in the long run!

My water profile is:
Ca 9.4 ppm
Mg 1 ppm
Na 5.7 ppm
SO4 10.5 ppm
Cl 7.9 ppm
Alkilinity (HCO3) 10.3 ppm

Should I consider water treatment?

[Aleman]

My water profile is:
Ca 9.4 ppm
Mg 1 ppm
Na 5.7 ppm
SO4 10.5 ppm
Cl 7.9 ppm
Alkilinity (HCO3) 10.3 ppm

Should I consider water treatment?

YES!

For a 5 Gallon Batch of pale ale I would probably use 10g of Gypsum Or Calcium Chloride (Or a Mixture of both) and a gram or so of Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salts) In the Mash Tun, and add 5g of Gypsum/Calcium Chloride to either the Sparge Liquor Or the Boiler (My preference is to add the salts to the boiler YMMV)

Graham Wheeler Has written a fairly complex water calculator here