How to filter your house hold tap water for brewing.

[Shanta]

I've recently been looking at filtering my house hold tap water for brewing a better product and am wondering what experience you might of had within this space?

 

[QldKev]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/76113-easy-water-filter/

 

[Bribie G]

Check with your local water supplier and find out whether they use chloramine or chlorine gas.

If gas (where I live) then you can leave a couple of stockpots full of water overnight and it will vent off and you will have better brewing water straight away at no processing cost. Our local water is carbon filtered then RO'd and has Chlorine gas added, so it's wonderful for brewing.

On the other hand if you have minerally water with chloramine then you'd need to invest in some gear.

For around $20 a simple Brita Jug will filter about 8 brewing batches, filter cartridges about $8 after that, although it's a fair bit of messing about. On the other hand you could try a couple of batches and see if there's a marked difference in the beer then use the jug water for coffee etc after that.

Kev's setup looks brilliant and cheap.

 

[verysupple]

If your water has chloramine then you can romove it using Campden tablets (sodium or potassium metabisulfite). You only need a fraction of a tablet for each batch (google it and you'll find the necessary dosage) and they're quite cheap (my LHBS sells packs of 50 for $4.95).

If you need to remove other things then the filtering may be the way to go. Just note that different types of filters will remove different things.

 

[Cervantes]

Our tap water here is treated bore water and rubbish for brewing.

I have good results using a unit similar to this to produce RO water and then dosing the water to suit the style of beer I'm making.

 

[Feldon]

Just to clarify a common misconception, leaving a pot of chlorinated town water overnight will not remove the chlorine. The water must be boiled to vent off the chlorine.

 

[takai]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/76113-easy-water-filter/

I use a setup like this, but managed to source it 2 for $20 including tap adapters. Then just use drinking water hose to plumb it in.

 

[sp0rk]

Just to clarify a common misconception, leaving a pot of chlorinated town water overnight will not remove the chlorine. The water must be boiled to vent off the chlorine.

I'm pretty sure you're referring to Chloramine
The Coffs Harbour Council Water Lab assures me leaving out Chlorinated water WILL evaporate off all chlorine

 

[stux]

Get SWMBO a new ice & water fridge and then use the old one for kegging

 

[Feldon]

I'm pretty sure you're referring to Chloramine
The Coffs Harbour Council Water Lab assures me leaving out Chlorinated water WILL evaporate off all chlorine

I do mean chlorine, not chloramine.

I've posted a research paper on this several times over the years. The most recent thread is here: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/71652-local-spring-water-vs-tap-water-melbourne/ which also has a link within it to an earlier thread I recall has a little more detailed discussion (although some posters seemed to miss the point at the time).

The paper was prepared by a water authority in the US. The test involved town water that had been chlorinated being put into bottles and subjected to various temperature and UV light regimes. The various samples were tested at daily intervals. The long and the short of it is that chlorinated water left standing at 25C will still have almost the same concentration of chlorine after a month.

Here's a extract (note that 'aeration' as used here does not mean agitation, but exposing to air).

Chlorine removal by aeration at various temperatures was not effective. Free chlorine
concentrations in sample #3 (S3) slightly decreased from 1.66 to 1.41 mg/L in open bottle
on a dark shelf (26C) and from 1.67 to 1.43 mg/L in open bottle in a refrigerator (5C)
for 3 days. Also, for chlorine removal in water by freezing (-20C) and melting (5C),
free chlorine concentration slightly decreased from 1.68 to 1.56 mg/L in open bottle for 3
days. In an additional analysis after 1 month, however, almost the same concentration of
free chlorine as that shown on the third day was detected (1.35 mg/L in open bottle on a
dark shelf), which indicates the long residual effect of chlorine.

My understanding as to why the chlorine does not all vent to atmosphere is this:

Water is usually chlorinated by the addition of hypochlorite either in powder form or in a water solution (ie. bleach). Very few water authorities risk using raw chlorine gas because it is too hazardous to transport and handle, especially in populated areas.

Once dissolved in the town water supply the hypochlorite produces three substances in equilibrium - free chlorine (Cl), hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). The amount of each depends on the pH of the water. And its the free chlorine that kills the bugs.

Just because you can't smell the free chlorine venting from the water doesn't mean that there is no more chlorine in the water. Its just locked up in the other two compounds but it can be released into solution in the presence of organic matter or change in pH.

 

[danestead]

If you are wanting to filter your water down to pure h2o and add salts to build up specific profiles, I use psifilters. They are an Aussie company based in Tasmania and only provide quality products. I've been using an RODI unit from them for 3 years but basically because I've needed it for Mt aquarium which requires a high quality of water. For brewing only, I'd go with a fast RO only unit such as the PSI 020B. I can't vouch for cheap Chinese eBay filters etc as I haven't used any nor have the equipment to test the quality of the water. The PSI products aren't cheap as they are an Aussie product however if you can afford one it will serve you well.

 

[verysupple]

I've posted a research paper on this several times over the years. The most recent thread is here: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/71652-local-spring-water-vs-tap-water-melbourne/ which also has a link within it to an earlier thread I recall has a little more detailed discussion (although some posters seemed to miss the point at the time).

Wow, that report is so badly written. Language aside, it seems like the science is sound.

However, I'm not entirely sure the excerpt you quoted really presents as strong a conclusion with regard to the homebrew setting as you think it does.

The research was conducted by a water supplier (Port LaBelle Utility System) with the intention of convincing people that you can drink their water.

"...in order to encourage utility customer to use tap water as drinking-water."

The relevant part about "Chlorine removal by aeration at various temperatures", as with the rest of the report, is aimed at the typical person treating water for drinking at home. They filled bottles of unspecified volume (although from the photos it looks like they're about three to four litres) almost to the top and then left the caps off. Now that's not a great deal of surface contact with the atmosphere so it's not surprising that it wasn't a very effective method of removing chlorine.

You may be right - it might be a lot harder than most people think to get the chlorine to evaporate out into the atmosphere - but that experiment was conducted using quite different parameters to what we would usually have in the homebrewing setting. Therefore I'm not sure the results are transferable to homebrewing where the vessels are usually quite wide and open topped.

I think further investigation is needed (including investigating the effect of agitation). To the lab! Well, actually, I don't have access to the necessary equipment. Maybe someone else does?

EDIT: Oh, and I'm not sure I'd call it a research paper; it's an institutional report. It isn't actually presented as a research manuscript in terms of structure or content, and isn't peer reviewed.

 

[TSMill]

At least in Melbourne though, most of the chlorination is by gas not hypo or chloramines.

 

[stux]

My pool 'burns' free chlorine when the sun hits it, but not at night. In pools you use a stabilizer to help prevent chlorine burn off due to UV (i think). This is also why its often suggested not to run a chlorinator (chorine gas generator ) during the hottest parts of the day.

So, my point is, stick the pot outside and let all the wild yeasts get into it

Aside, I have a controller on the pool which tests the pH and chlorine ever 6 minutes and then injects acid or liquid chlorine to keep it in the specified band. If its all working well you can't smell the chlorine.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

You can remove chloramine with vitamin C tablets

Stolen from Wikipeadia


Ascorbic acid[SIZE=small][edit][/SIZE]
Ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate completely neutralizes both chlorine and chloramines but degrades in a day or two, which make it usable only for short-term applications; SFPUC determined that 1000 mg of Vitamin C (tablets purchased in a grocery store, crushed and mixed in with the bath water) remove chloramine completely in a medium-size bathtub without significantly depressing pH.[16]

 

[Feldon]

Wow, that report is so badly written. Language aside, it seems like the science is sound.

However, I'm not entirely sure the excerpt you quoted really presents as strong a conclusion with regard to the homebrew setting as you think it does.

The research was conducted by a water supplier (Port LaBelle Utility System) with the intention of convincing people that you can drink their water.


The relevant part about "Chlorine removal by aeration at various temperatures", as with the rest of the report, is aimed at the typical person treating water for drinking at home. They filled bottles of unspecified volume (although from the photos it looks like they're about three to four litres) almost to the top and then left the caps off. Now that's not a great deal of surface contact with the atmosphere so it's not surprising that it wasn't a very effective method of removing chlorine.

You may be right - it might be a lot harder than most people think to get the chlorine to evaporate out into the atmosphere - but that experiment was conducted using quite different parameters to what we would usually have in the homebrewing setting. Therefore I'm not sure the results are transferable to homebrewing where the vessels are usually quite wide and open topped.

I think further investigation is needed (including investigating the effect of agitation). To the lab! Well, actually, I don't have access to the necessary equipment. Maybe someone else does?

EDIT: Oh, and I'm not sure I'd call it a research paper; it's an institutional report. It isn't actually presented as a research manuscript in terms of structure or content, and isn't peer reviewed.

The lead researcher has an Asian name so English is probably not her first language. Her command of English ought not be used to throw any question over her command of chemical research.

The surface area exposure to air of the test samples is a good point. But after a month's (somewhat limited) exposure there is still no great reduction in chlorination. I don't think its going to change much being in a wide-mouth pot overnight.

Its a research report. The fact that it may not be peer reviewed makes no difference. Its a report based on research. And yes, the research was conducted to find a way for people who didn't like the taste of chlorinated tap water to use it as drinking water. A spin off for us is that its findings provide some key information on the rate at which town water is naturally de-chlorinated by light and heat, and that data is applicable to homebrewing.
(I think the timing of the research might coincide with that PET plastic scare in the US a few years back which caused people to want to avoid bottled water and use town water, but without the chlorine taste.)

Yes, it would be good if someone with access to the right lab equipment and conditions could repeat the study using homebrew pots and different water from major Australian cities. Any takers out there? Maybe something some of the homebrew shops might be geared up to try for the edification of the craft and the everlasting praise of the homebrew community.

 

[verysupple]

The lead researcher has an Asian name so English is probably not her first language. Her command of English ought not be used to throw any question over her command of chemical research.

Sorry, I was just commenting, not meaning to use the poor English to somehow de-value the work. I also said the science seemed sound.

The fact that it may not be peer reviewed makes no difference. Its a report based on research.

Well, actually, that's the whole point of peer review - it does make a difference. If you'd seen some of the stuff that gets submitted...

But again, this work is probably sound and I'm not trying to discount it in any way.

 

[anthonyUK]

For brewing you'll only really want to use an active carbon filter to remove chlorines and organic matter but it won't affect the alkalinity if you are AG.
The Brita type filters are ion-exchange filters which do reduce the alkalinity by swapping Calcium for Sodium but unless you know what your post filtered water contains then you could be better or worse off.
The other option is a reverse osmosis system which will strip virtually everything leaving you a base liquid to build a profile on which is sometimes easier said than done.

If brewing kits ignore the above and just add campden as suggested.