CRS water yellow help!

[Williaaaam]

Hi i am from an area which has really hard water 350 calcium carbonate i was just testing stuff and calculated i would need 89ml of CRS in 11 gallons to get the water down to the correct alkalinity for pale ale but when i came back to check my water this morning it had gone yellow and smells im guessing my water is too hard to brew with and the sulphur has gone through the roof... Did i calculate this right?

[boingy]

William, can I ask where you live?
(this is not a chat up line!)

[Williaaaam]

i live in Bradford on avon a place in wiltshire southwest. but turns out my dad just told me there is a water filter on the tap i was using and it has hardness level of 171 not 350 so there lies my prob hehe

[Graham]

Chalk in suspension can throw these test kits out of kilter. I have a similar problem with my water. It is something to do with CO2 levels, pressure and temperature deep underground in the aquifer. As the water comes along the distribution system and out of the tap, the pressure and temperature equalises to atmospheric which causes CO2 to come out of solution. This in turn causes some of the bicarbonate in solution to manifest itself as chalk in suspension. A very simple filter will take this suspended chalk out, thereby giving a significantly lower measured alkalinity downstream of the filter.

I don't suppose it really matters as long as the same source is used for mashing as was used in the test, and as long as the chalk stays in suspension which it probably does because of its small particle size.