# reverse osmosis help



## zav_69 (10/1/14)

hi I have a 5 stage reverse osmosis and was wondering if the levels are good and if and how I can improve them. my tap water is at 7.8ph and 97ppm and the reverse osmosis water is at 6.9ph and 10ppm. I've heard people say the ph level needs to be higher


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## Crusty (10/1/14)

zav_69 said:


> hi I have a 5 stage reverse osmosis and was wondering if the levels are good and if and how I can improve them. my tap water is at 7.8ph and 97ppm and the reverse osmosis water is at 6.9ph and 10ppm. I've heard people say the ph level needs to be higher


If you brew All Grain, you need to be more concerned with your mash pH.
Ideally you need to be somewhere in the 5.4 to 5.6 pH range according to EZ Water Calc





Plugging your recipe into the required fields will give you your pH & you can add brewing salts to get you to where you need to be.

If you brew via the Coopers cans or similar, I can't help you there. I used to just use my tap water & the beers were drinkable.......Just!


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## Tex083 (30/1/14)

Your RODI should put out 0 TDS ( total dissolved solids) and not sure of pH 
You will need to add back calcium to get to 50-125 PPM
Use a spread sheet or Beersmith


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## Online Brewing Supplies (30/1/14)

A RO unit will not remove all dissolved solids, probably around 97% is expected.
As for pH thats subjective from what I have read due mainly to absorption of CO2 etc from the atmosphere.
Nev


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## Crusty (30/1/14)

Gryphon Brewing said:


> A RO unit will not remove all dissolved solids, probably around 97% is expected.
> As for pH thats subjective from what I have read due mainly to absorption of CO2 etc from the atmosphere.
> Nev


I thought all RO units are supposed to remove all TDS. I got my 4 stage, 400lt per day unit for a SPS reef aquarium & I get a reading on my TDS meter of 0. My unit is an RODI though so the DI cartridge might be the difference between the 97% & 100% removal of TDS.


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## O-beer-wan-kenobi (30/1/14)

Not sure of your system but I have been told RO removes all but a small % of solids. If you look at some of the software and spreadsheets for water calculations and you select the RO water profile you will see some salts and solids are present, as oppose to distilled which has none.

I was also advised that the membranes of RO units will need replacing over time and use and you can check the efficiency or quaity of the water by testing the TDS. You can buy TDS testers on evil bay at a reasonable price http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Portable-LCD-Digital-TDS-Meter-Tester-Water-Quality-PPM-Filter-Purity-/321297360009?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item4aced0a489&_uhb=1

Been looking to buy an RO unit and was told this info by a supplier of RO systems


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## Tex083 (31/1/14)

Sorry my bad, I had an RODI for marine aquarium and it ALWAYS put out 0 TDS water which was great for brewing
RO is slightly different and wont get you to 0 TDS, but its a lot better than tap water


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## mabrungard (1/2/14)

10 ppm from a RO unit is fine and is typical. As pointed out above, the inclusion of a de-ionizing stage (DI) will take out that remaining ionic content. For brewing, the DI stage is unneeded and unnecessary since you will typically want that minor mineral content in the brewing water anyway. For most ales, bringing the calcium content back up to 50 ppm should be helpful. However, lager yeasts may not need or tolerate much calcium, so it may not be necessary to boost the calcium level to 50 ppm for that yeast.


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