Water Filter

[biertourist]

I have my own internalized conspiracy theory that the Palmer water treatment book (http://www.amazon.com/Water-A-Comprehen ... 0937381993) has been delayed so long because of the Delange "zen of water treatment" revelation/(future revolution?). ; )

Now I'm really fanning the flames...
Adam

[spiderwrangler]

I was somewhat confused with the remark on not needing to know much about water chemisty? I was under the impression that, with an RO system, the brewer would have to build thier water up almost from scratch.

The point there is that if you are starting for RO, you can know every batch, every time that you are adding x amount of salt A, x amount of salt B, x amount of salt C, and that's your water profile. I believe both Doc and Tasty do something similar, and will mix up their salt additions before hand, so they can just dump it into the HLT. If you are starting in the middle somewhere, you have to take more things into account, and it may be different every time, that is where you will be benefited by knowledge of the chemistry.

As far as the philosophy of water stuff goes, I see RO building as the opposite of using 5.2, with the more precise water adjustments being in the middle.

[brewindruid]

Ah got it...very true. One's a balancing act the other is literally paint by numbers!

Thnx

[Ozwald]

[spiderwrangler]

Waaaaooooo waaaa aaaahhh ooooo dum dududah dum dududah dum.

What set up do you have?

[MNHazmat]

I've had good luck with the units from these guys-- http://airwaterice.com/

Adding on a permeate pump really helps with reducing the waste water.

[Beer_Baron]

I know that it is cheaper to have your own RO filter in the long run, but I tend to use the local "water stores" near my house. I bring in 5 or 6 5 gallon water jugs, sanitize them with an ozone machine, and fill them up for brewing beer and making coffee. I then add minerals for brewing by mixing in some of my town's super hard tap water after running it through a carbon filter. I think I heard that Stone does something similar for their water - RO and Carbon filtered mixed together. The water is over 1000 PPM TDS and 200 ppm CaCO3 average. Someone should set up a water store next door to every homebrew shop they can find in hard water areas and sell propane too, they would clean up!

[brewindruid]

I know that it is cheaper to have your own RO filter in the long run, but I tend to use the local "water stores" near my house. I bring in 5 or 6 5 gallon water jugs, sanitize them with an ozone machine, and fill them up for brewing beer and making coffee. I then add minerals for brewing by mixing in some of my town's super hard tap water after running it through a carbon filter. I think I heard that Stone does something similar for their water - RO and Carbon filtered mixed together. The water is over 1000 PPM TDS and 200 ppm CaCO3 average. Someone should set up a water store next door to every homebrew shop they can find in hard water areas and sell propane too, they would clean up!

I am fortunate that my local water is really soft, and low on most everything. I also have a local store that has an RO machine, and was considering the same option. However, I came to realize that there is no way to tell for sure, other than water tests, what the state of uupkeep on the store's machine was/is..
I just go with a carbone filter 24 hours pre brew day along with a campden tablet after the HlT is full. I then build my water based on the city report. The only thing I did not realize was that there has to be standing pressure on the filter, or it must be removed and dried after each use. No Biggee.