Adelaide water quality.

[Beil]

Hi, my next brew is going to be BIAB Golden Ale and I thought I'd get and get my head slightly round the water profile I'll be using.

I've found this as a report of the water I'm using.

https://www.sawater.com.au/community-and-environment/water-quality/in-your-area-whats-in-your-water/north-metro

Is this a useable report?

Can I tell what I'd need to do for PH in the mash with this? Or do I still need to get a test kit for that and make adjustments at the time.

Or do I need to get my own report done somehow?

Does anyone from Adelaide use the same supply as me (North Metro supply, I'm in Salisbury North) and treat their water, then I could just do as you do I guess?

Thanks, I know I could probably go ahead and do BIaB without messing with water, but if I can gleam any info I figure why not.

 

[indica86]

Doesn't tell you much at all does it?
Good that the e.coli levels are low, that gets in the was of hop presence.

 

[labels]

You will be fine with Adelaide water without any need for adjustments for a successful beer. Adelaide water is very good for brewing with an acceptable mineral profile for most styles. The pH is usually around 8.0 (typical) and that is fine, the mash will bring the pH to within the correct range for practically all beers. You can add a touch of gypsum if you want but it's not required for golden ale.

I persoanlly filter my water with a two stage filter (sedimentation and carbon) but even that is not really required. I do use RO water for very light delicate lagers and adjust the mineral profile to suit although most of the time it's 50/50 RO and filtered but for ales I don't use RO at all.

If you're kit brewing, water is the least of your concern.

I'm in Gulfview Heights, not far from you.

 

[Beil]

Hi Labels, thanks for that, so basically I don't need to do anything, such is good to know... from my limited 2+2 I gathered that the water wasn't far off.

Based on a report I got from brew Adelaide dated OCT 2016 and entering my mash bill.

The mash ph was marginally higher than suggested 5.4-5.6 @ 5.7. Calcium was slightly lower than spreadsheet suggested (which equals your gypsum suggestion) and the Chloride/Sulphate ratio was just above suggested.

My results are posted below aswell as the stats I used for input. But if you reckon if anything add, what, a gram or two of gypsum?

In the spreadsheet I added 2g gypsum, 1g Calcium Carbonate and 1.5ml lactic acid to bring the pH down and balance the calcium and carbonate/sulphate ratios displayed at the bottom.

I have been filling a cube with water and Camden tabbing it over night for my water.
I'm planning on installing a 2 stage filter under the sink when I get the spare money, SWMBO likes that idea too, but not that I brought it up because of beer.

This will only be my third brew, first two extract, this one will be BIAB.

I'm probably over complicating it, but it's nice diving into a new project and learning

 

[Killer Brew]

Adelaide water is generally fine for brewing as Labels suggests. I do have a detailed report somewhere and will track it down and attach it here. I normally add a small amount of gypsum, around half a teaspoon, for hop driven beers only.

 

[Jack of all biers]

Beil,

All you have to do to get what you want for the Northern system is go onto the SA Water website and make a general enquiry requesting your area's current values. See my post for the values I requested for Central supply. I also posted on the same thread (post 134) the average values between 05 and 10 (not currently relevant, but you'll note the values have been fairly consistent over the years)

 

[Beil]

Hi Jack, I emailed but got a link to this instead
http://www.sawater.com.au/about-us/annual-reports

But... I checked your results against a screenshot I found on the brew Adelaide website and your area is the same results that you posted: for me to assume that what I found is relevant for my area too.

 

[Jack of all biers]

It'll be close enough. Over the years, the results for the different areas of the Adelaide water supply systems are generally similar to each other, as the sheet you've posted shows. Just remember that these results will only be a guide to what actually comes out of your tap and my rule of thumb is to give each value a +/- 10% window (some might say that is not being conservative enough).

It's strange that SA Water linked you to a useless website. I wrote a that I wanted specific results and they emailed me the pdf that I posted. Given that they are legally required to test the water, I don't see why they don't just post the results at least once a year like United Water used to do.

 

[Beil]

Yea, bit annoying, I wasn't too vague as to what I was after, it's like whoever responded couldn't be bothered.

"Hi, I was wondering if I would be able to have a detailed water report suitable for beer brewing usage, (I'm guessing this isn't a totally rare request) Chloride, Sodium and Sulphate levels etc. As per the form I filled out above I'm located in #&#&@7!83&#. Much appreciated."

 

[Jack of all biers]

Just an update Beil, You can now go to the SAWater website now and check out the yearly average for your postcode. They must have been getting sick of all the home brewers requesting individual results :lol: Go the power of pestering :beerbang: The link in my below post in the Great Australian Water thread should get you there.

Jack of all biers, on 29 May 2017 - 7:23 PM, said:
A year on and SAWater now allow punters to put in their Postcode and the data most of us brewers want for the districts water supply. It only provides the years average, but looking at it compare to the previous years it is fairly consistent and if anything the alkalinity, sodium level and total hardness have dropped slightly.
Below is the relevant Central Metro data (Adelaide CBD, southern and western suburbs), but for those that want to check out the water data for their postcode they now can (as opposed to the last few years). It doesn't do all of SA that gets mains water though (I checked for Pt Lincoln and Pt Augusta) so no luck for country folk, though you may be better off using rain water anyway by the time it gets through all that piping! :blink:

Relevant data as shown below reflects average values between Apr 2016 to Apr 2017. If you want more go to the above link.
Parameter Units Average Value
Alkalinity mg/L 44.0
Bicarbonate mg/L 53.5
Calcium mg/L 20.67
Carbonate mg/L 0.0
Chloride mg/L 71.6
Chlorine Residual^ mg/L 0.3
Hardness mg/L 90
Iron mg/L 0.008
Magnesium mg/L 9.22
Manganese mg/L 0.001
pH pH units 7.3
Potassium mg/L 3.55
Sodium mg/L 39.26
Sulphate mg/L 39.2
Turbidity NTU 0.2
Zinc mg/L 0.004