De-chlorination substance

[Andy_27]

Hi guys, I know Campden tablets are good to remove chlorine and chloramine from tap water. But I dont have any on hand... I do have API brand Tap Water Conditioner for use in fish tanks to remove these chemicals. Has anyone used this in their brew water or know if its safe to use? It doesnt have the active ingredients on the bottle.
Cheers!

 

[Zorco]

Hi Andy_27,

A good trick is to locate the MSDS.

I think this is the one
http://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/52_Tap_Water_Conditioner_2014_January_10_00-40-44-053_AM.pdf


I got it from
http://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?p=downloads&id=655


I'll have a read and see if I know about the ingredients.

 

[Andy_27]

Hi mate, I just found that too. It seems to be Sodium Thiosulfate and EDTA Tetrasodium salt.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

EDTA chelates divalent cations, so it will strip Ca2+ and Mg2+ from the water, replacing them with Na+. The effect of the amount you'd be adding if you used that mixture to strip chlorine would be tiny, but it's there.

 

[Andy_27]

I should probably just stop being impatient and duck into the shop during the week and pick up some campden tabs. :unsure:

 

[sp0rk]

If your council is just using chlorine, leave your water to sit overnight, the chlorine will evaporate off

 

[MHB]

If your council is just using chlorine, leave your water to sit overnight (SOME OF) the chlorine will evaporate off.
M

 

[manticle]

Boiling will remove chlorine. Boiling will remove some chloramine.

 

[peteru]

The other thing you could use (and may have at home) is vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid). You don't need much. 1/10th of a tablet for 20L of water should be enough.

 

[goatchop41]

Boiling will remove chlorine. Boiling will remove some chloramine.

The other thing you could use (and may have at home) is vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid). You don't need much. 1/10th of a tablet for 20L of water should be enough.

Head brewer/owner of the local brewery here in Bendigo (with a background in chemistry) assured us at a homebrewing info session that boiling and/or campden will NOT make any difference to chloramine levels at all. Makes me wonder why so many people constamtly harp on about using it to remove chloramine from tap water.
At the brewery they use an activated charcoal filter, but he said that for a homebrewer, ascorbic acid is certainly the best option. Just buy some off ebay for peanuts, or from your local pharmacy (just make sure to get it unflavoured, and without fillers ie. powder not tablets!).

Dosage depends on the ppm of chloramine in your local water supply. Dosage in grams = ppm of chloramine * 2.5 per 1000L of water (here in Bendigo where we have ~3ppm, I use about 25L of water per batch, so I would use 3*2.5/(1000/25) = 0.1875g of ascorbic acid for 25L of tap water)

 

[manticle]

People constantly harp on because there are a number of sources that suggest differently.

 

[peteru]

Chemist Warehouse sell pure ascorbic acid. It's under $10 for a bag that will last you a lifetime of brewing.

I use a two stage water filter, with the second stage being a charcoal filter for my brewing water. However, if I use bleach to clean plastic items, I always mix up some ascorbic acid solution and rinse everything to neutralise the chlorine stench.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Head brewer/owner of the local brewery here in Bendigo (with a background in chemistry) assured us at a homebrewing info session that <snip> campden will NOT make any difference to chloramine levels at all.

He's either being misquoted or he's wrong. The reaction is so reliable it's used as an assay technique.

 

[MHB]

Head brewer/owner of the local brewery here in Bendigo (with a background in chemistry) assured us at a homebrewing info session that boiling and/or campden will NOT make any difference to chloramine levels at all. Makes me wonder why so many people constamtly harp on about using it to remove chloramine from tap water.
At the brewery they use an activated charcoal filter, but he said that for a homebrewer, ascorbic acid is certainly the best option. Just buy some off ebay for peanuts, or from your local pharmacy (just make sure to get it unflavoured, and without fillers ie. powder not tablets!).

Dosage depends on the ppm of chloramine in your local water supply. Dosage in grams = ppm of chloramine * 2.5 per 1000L of water (here in Bendigo where we have ~3ppm, I use about 25L of water per batch, so I would use 3*2.5/(1000/25) = 0.1875g of ascorbic acid for 25L of tap water)

I'm going to disagree with some of this. Metabisulphite will quickly and effectively remove both Chlorine and Chloramines.
It is much faster and more certain than Ascorbic Acid, tho there are some reports that a blend of the two is also very effective and may be better at both dechlorination and deoxygenation. BYO did something on this

Big advantage of Campden tablets is they don't need weighing, just counting, as each contains 0.44g of metabisulphite, enough to add about 225ppm to 1L (originally 50ppm to 1 Imperial Gallon)
I would be adding around 3-4ppm to my brewing liquor.
Mark

 

[Dave70]

I prefer to leave the chlorine in to avoid cholera and tooth decay.

 

[peteru]

You'll need fluoride for the teeth.

Although, now that I mentioned fluoride, expect the conspiracy theorists to pull out their tin-foil hats and come out of hiding to warn us.

 

[Zorco]

I've got amalgam fillings. The continual poisoning makes me thirsty and constantly craving spicy and slow cooked meat products...

 

[sp0rk]

I've got amalgam fillings. The continual poisoning makes me thirsty and constantly craving spicy and slow cooked meat products...

Huh, that explains my cravings

 

[peteru]

Me too. I solved the problem with pulled beef on jalapeno sourdough for lunch.

 

[Adr_0]

As others have said, to answer the OP sugarless vitamin C (eg mix of sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid) would be perfect. 500mg is probably suitable for 50-70L of 1ppm total chlorine water.

Regarding vitamin C not working for chloramine (and chlorine):

NH2Cl + C6H8O6 >> C6H6O6 + NH4 + Cl (gas)

HOCl + C6H8O6 >> C6H6O6 + HCl + H2O

So it does... And has references as others have stated.

And for sodium met (chloramine and chlorine):
2NH2Cl + Na2S2O5 + 3H2O >> 2H2SO4 + 2NaCL + NH4

2HOCl + Na2S2O5 + H2O >> 2H2SO4 + 2NaCl

as MHB alluded to, reaction rate and even mixing is not considered in these - so typically a 2-3x excess is used.