New to Water Treatment

[rsw]

Been brewing all grain on and off for some time - off most recently. Just sorting out my first brew in some time and was thinking about water treatment this time round (other than a campden tablet as done before). Done a fair bit of reading and put the figures in from Northumbrian Water reports into the calculator on here and others, and usually quite good at understanding this type of thing, but not convinced I've got it right / additions required etc, so hoping someone can help based on the figures I've got.

The figures given in the NWL report are these (These are averages over 12 months, but not huge variation between min and max either)

Under 'Total hardness'
CaCO3 mg/l Calcium Carbonate 140.13
mg/l Ca 47.98
total hardness 56.05

Then under 'Brewers information'
CaCO3 mg/l Calcium Carbonate 140.13
mg/l Chloride 12.52
mg/l alkalinity (HCO3) 84.61
mg/l Ca - Calcium 47.98
mg/l Mg -Magnesium 4.91
mg/l Sodium 12.06
mg/l Sulphate 78.26

Will be brewing this Boxcar Double Dark Mild from Malt Miller

May be I don't bother this time round, but interested to understand for next time at least.

Richard

[Eric]

First advice is to buy a cheap TDS meter. It will not display the Total Dissolved Salts accurately, but will show variations to determine what confidence can be had in your supply and the information from Northumbrian Water.

Total Hardness measured as CaCO3 mg/l of 140.13 is derived from 2.5 * Calcium mg/l plus 4.1 * Magnesium mg/l
Dividing that hardness by 2.5 gives hardness in terms of Calcium, 56.05. As PeeBee says, all this can be a load of Mumbo-Jumbo, but it helps to understand how such figures are derived, and there can be times when they are helpful.

You would seem to have all you need when using Graham's water calculator hosted on this Forum, so please ask about anything you are not sure of.

[rsw]

Thanks, another thing to add to the xmas list!

Nice to know how those figures are derived - sure there will be a time when it is useful to know.

This is what I've got from the calc here - think I've got the figures in the right place - wasn't sure at first if I had the alkalinity and hardness figures right (especially as seems they can be measured in same units).

[Eric]

Yes, all's as advised. You didn't need the figure for hardness as you had both the calcium and magnesium values. Had those not been available, but hardness given, using it would convert that to calcium and enter that value in the table.

Yes, Hardness and Alkalinity can both be measured in the same units, and it is confusing.

Not all milds are as dark as that you will be brewing, and I think that has been taken into consideration when deriving the final carbonate ion content of the calculator. I would be inclined to use a higher level of alkalinity for the mash in that brew, with a lower level for sparge liquor. However, if you do a full volume mash, then that figure is probably fine. There is no need to be perfectly exact in the salt additions, the one to be careful with is the acid addition. I always check my brew water with a Salifert KH kit after treatment to confirm the final alkalinity.

Just get a cheap TDS meter from eBay, it should last you years. I've just replaced the batteries in mine after goodness knows how long, yet it is in use at least every brew. Those with soft water have little use for one, but with the water you describe, I just wonder if any extracted from the Tees at Darlington were to be incorporated, there could be substantial variation.

In time you will develop your own ways of treating liquor.

Good luck with the brew and ask any further questions you may have.

[rsw]

Thanks,

This is darker than I have previously brewed, but was in the black friday deals on TMM and thought I'd give it a go! I won't be doing a full mash volume so possibly need to look at higher alkalinity in mash then.

According to Northumbrian Water 'If you live in the centre of Darlington, all of your water will come from our Broken Scar water treatments works', which, with a bit of searching would suggest is a mixture of water from groundwater/borehole and river extraction from the Tees (I assume the proportion of each will vary over time). Not sure it helps to know that at the moment, but may be useful at some point.

[Eric]

I like a bargain too.

Yes, use a bit less CRS for the mash liqour and the balance for the sparge liquor.

MagnLime.jpg (117.87 KiB) Viewed 718 times

Darlington sits on top of a vast piece of magnesian limestone and so do I. My water is very hard and while we both sit on a single contiguous piece of rock that once was the western shore of a large inland sea, its mineral content does vary along its length. I'll guess your water supply is possibly 50/50 borehole and water from the Tees. So rainwater, with reservoirs in Baldersdale, Lunedale and at Cow Green regulated to keep the Tees at a relatively constant level at the Darlington intake.

Your TDS meter should tell you what variation there might be and if it does, I'd again guess it might be possible to have a good stab at what the mineral level might be from the reading obtained.

[rsw]

In my search I found a report from northumbrian water from about 2008 which I think said 40% was from the tees, so your 50/50 guess is quite good!

Now just wish I'd thought about this before ordering the grains and could have ordered the crs etc at the same time.

[Eric]

Brew without CRS, the difference might be too minor to be concerned. Just don't sparge too much, that's when it is possible to cause astringency from too high pH.

Get CRS with your next order, in particular for a pale beer with little roasted grains or crystal malt.