Brita Filter vs Bottled Water

[Cozzyb]

Hi everyone,

My water always gives a chemically taste/something off in beers even with a camden tablet, even boiled my water before use and still get something taste wise. I was going to use tesco bottled water, but instead of having to carry them back and forth, could I use a Brita filter? What does it actually remove from the water? Would it give me a decent clean slate water like Bottled does?

[Goulders]

If you do a search there are a few comments on this. Issue with Brita I understand is that a lot of the essential minerals are also stripped out.

[Cozzyb]

Just noticed you can buy big filters made for fridges and such on ebay quite cheap (sub £10) that guarentee 1500 gallon before needing replacement, they use 1/4 tubing either end, so could you just hook tubing up either side and slowly push water through it via a tap? (using a tap conversion thing i already have)

[DerbyshireNick]

Yeah thats exactly what I use, those big fridge filters. Made a little connector patch to get it to hook up to my outside tap and bob is indeed your uncle.

[Cazamodo]

Have you tested your water after using this? What exactly do these type of filters strip out?

[orlando]

Correct me if I'm wrong but as I understand it these filters do not remove alkalinity. If this is correct therein lies part of the problem. Water high in alkalinity is not conducive to making good pale ales so reducing alkalinity is a starting point, this will enable you to get your mash pH into the right range, assuming of course your issue is with AG brewed beers.

[stokie_spaceman]

Hi,
A question I know something about! Brita cartridges, indeed any jug filter cartridge contains a mixture of activated carbon and WAC (weak acid cation) ion exchange resin.
The carbon removes free chlorine, chloramines and organics including those which have been chlorinated. MOst of these have very low taste thresholds (sub ppb quite often) or will cause brew issues. So this is all good.
The WAC resin removes hardness associated with alkalinity, i.e temporary hardness. It does not remove all the hardness i.e. any calcium and magnesium associated with chloride or sulphate for example.

What happens to the alkalinity then? Well, basically as the temporary hardness is removed, it is exchanged for hydrogen ions (acid). The subsequent drop in pH converts the alkalainity (usually present as bicarbonate in tap water) to CO2. This is volatile and is easily removed by agitating the water or transferring it around.

This is why jug filters help prevent scale formation if you use them to fill your kettle, since they have removed the hardness which forms calcium carbonate (scale) upon boiling (not in entirety but a large proportion of).

The carbon lasts quite a long time. The resin exhausts and is most effective when you fit a new cartridge. It will remove less and less temporary hardness as it is used. Hence the removal of alkalinity is proportional to the removal of temporary hardness. Rate of exhaustion depends on how much water you put through it and the alkalinity concentration in the water.

Unfortunately, I've never gotten around to measuring the alkalinity remaining after putting the water through a jug filter but have made a few pales ales after fitting a new one. The result was much improved on my normal water which is around 280 mg/l (as CaCO3) HCO3. It is however, a pain to filter so much in a jug filter. I would suggest it would be a worth while test to see if it solves the odd taste in your brew though. Chlorine is often the culprit. All the water will need to be treated. Do this the night before because you will lose the will to brew after filtering say 40 odd litres through the jug.

Hope this helps

Joe

[Horden Hillbilly]

I use a Water Gem Filter which is claimed to

For better results with wine or beer making (or even tea & coffee) use filtered water. Removes off-tastes, odours, rust particles, pesticides, organic compounds, as well as chlorine & Chlor-amines.

I also do an alkalinity test as well, after filtering the water & I usually do have too reduce the alkaline levels in my water.