# Water Treatment



## Jazzafish (6/1/06)

Hi guys, 

Just wanted some help with converting Prospect water to be something like Munich water. I have pro mash and it gives me the following information:

Munich Water
Ca: 76
Mg: 18
Na: 1
So4: 10
Cl: 2
HcO3: 152

Sydney (Prospect Water) 
Ca: 14
Mg: 5.8
Na: 13
So4: 9
Cl: 27
HcO3: 44.5

Difference:
Ca: 62
Mg: 12.2
Na: -12
So4: 1
Cl: -25
HCo3: 107.5

Now my understanding is that to convert my water to be like Munich water, I need to add the calculated amounts of salts to my water to give the values listed under difference.

*Is that correct?*
*Do my values look right?*

If so, is a good idea if I add Chalk(CaCo3) to boost calcium and carbo? 

*Where can I get chalk?* Is it standard chalk used for chalkboards?

Chloride (cl) levels are a bit too high. Would boiling the water help this? If so how will it affect the other values?

Cheers,
Jarrad


----------



## Malnourished (6/1/06)

Jazzafish said:


> If so, is a good idea if I add Chalk(CaCo3) to boost calcium and carbo?
> *Where can I get chalk?* Is it standard chalk used for chalkboards?


Is it a good idea? Depends on what you're brewing. If you're trying to do a helles DO NOT add chalk. If you're doing a dunkel the Munich profile should give you what you want. I can't find the link but there's a site somewhere which calculates your water's residual alkalinity and comes up with an "ideal" colour to brew to. If you work backwards with your estimated beer colour it should give you a rough RA to shoot for. 

I just get CaCO3 from the home brew shop. That way you're guaranteed of getting something intended for brewing. Don't use blue chalk! :lol: 

Oh yeah, don't forget CaCO3 won't dissolve in water, you need to add it to the mash, not the HLT.



Jazzafish said:


> Chloride (cl) levels are a bit too high. Would boiling the water help this? If so how will it affect the other values?


Don't worry about it - it's close enough. Remember that water varies quite significantly in content according to the particular source, time of year, who you're listening to etc. Munich's water is characterised by moderately high CaCO3 content and low sulfates. You can replicate that easily with Sydney water.


----------



## Jazzafish (6/1/06)

Thanks for the reply,

It is for brewing a munich dunkel... my local HBS didn't have any and couldn't offer much advice.

Cheers,
Jarrad


----------



## tangent (6/1/06)

you might be better off starting with some clean boiled rainwater and adding to that
give you a cleaner canvas to start with
i've been doing this rather than use adelaide water h34r: 
but i hear sydney water is generally pretty good??


----------



## TidalPete (6/1/06)

Does anyone else have trouble getting a complete water analysis from their local council?  
After the original report was mailed to me minus three critical items, I finally managed to get all I needed for my calculations except for bi-Carbonate analysis. After 6 months I'm still waiting for their promised report. Seriously thinking of trying to scrounge a local water analysis from a private testing mob.
My council claim that I have no need for more than one analysis report per year, as their weekly tests do not show much variation in the results. Any comments?

:beer:


----------



## sosman (6/1/06)

TidalPete said:


> My council claim that I have no need for more than one analysis report per year, as their weekly tests do not show much variation in the results. Any comments?
> [post="101297"][/post]​


Where I live the analysis doesn't change much from year to year.


----------



## TidalPete (6/1/06)

sosman said:


> TidalPete said:
> 
> 
> > My council claim that I have no need for more than one analysis report per year, as their weekly tests do not show much variation in the results. Any comments?
> ...



Thanks for that sos. Tried for quarterly reports & was knocked back. The excuse was a lack of resouces. What a joke with millions of dollars in surplus.


----------

