Severn Trent are coming to test my water: UPDATE

[flything]

So is this PH reading of any use to me ?

No

The only way in areas served by ST to get a figure for total alkalinity is to get a kit and test it yourself.

Presumably breweries served by ST (or any other region) get a lab to test their water on a regular basis and adjust from there too so you're in good company

[crowds]

Ahhhh the little blighters...
Well I think I will send off a bottle to murphyandson and at the same time order a kit

Thanks for the replies everyone

[Jolum]

Hi Crowds, I'm sorry to hear it's not only me who got the run around from those tossers at Severn Trent Water . As I stated in another thread, phone calls\letters etc do no good, they just act like they have no idea what you're taking about and keep referring you back to their useless online water report. I gave up and got the Salifert kit suggected by Chris, worked out my alkalinity and went from there.

All I can say is thank the maker for the folks on forums like JBK , without them homebrewing in this country would taste like piss or would probably have died altogether as a craft.

[crowds]

Just read that thread..
did you do as Chris-x1 suggested ?

Once you've got a figure you can phone the water company and tell them what it is

Yeah is time to order a kit I think

[Jolum]

Yep.
Still a bit confused about all the water treatment stuff but muddling through

I assume yours will be different but between the crappy online water report and the Test kit these are the figures I've got so far for my Severn Trent water (and the ones I'm still missing of course )

Alkalinity (as CaCO3) = 68.5 - 74.5 mg\L or ppm (that's just before and just after it all turns pink...you'll understand when you get your test kit )
Calcium = ??
Magnesium = ??
Sodium = 18.49
Sulphate = 53.5
Chloride = 20.93

TBH, my beers were pretty drinkable before I started hassling people on this forum about water treatment but, I suppose, if we didn't strive to better what we're making we'd all be happy drinking Carlsberg...probably

[crowds]

(that's just before and just after it all turns pink...you'll understand when you get your test kit )

ive seen the vid, I know what you mean

Yeah I noticed Calcium and Magnesium was missing as well, surely that's something they could provide !

[Jolum]

Yeah I noticed Calcium and Magnesium was missing as well, surely that's something they could provide !

You would think. But I suppose ineptitude knows no bounds

[Minimasher]

In an attempt to help...

Atomic Mass of Carbon = 12, Calcium = 40, Oxygen = 16. Therefore CaCO3 = 100. Therefore 40% of CaCO3 is Ca. This means 40% of you CaCO3 is Calcuim. If you have an average of 71.5 mg/L of CaCO3, then I guess your Ca content is 71.5 x 40% = 28.6 mg/L.

I'm no chemist though, is it just the Calcium in the CaCO3 you need or are there other sources of Calcium in the water?

[Aleman]

Salifert do calcium and magnesium test kits as well

[nofe4r]

I live near Coventry, I emailed Severn Trent and received a reply within a couple of days with the total alkalinity figure (112Mg/l). Although I did have to email back and ask whether his first figure was right he had originally written 1112Mg/l

[crookedeyeboy]

Hmmm methinks they dont know where the decimal place goes!