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Wortgames

'Draught' is not a beer style - it's a lifestyle
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A few weeks ago I mentioned in another thread that I thought my water quality had declined a bit.

Well I recently browsed the Melbourne Water website, http://www.melbournewater.com.au, looking for water analysis. The chemistry breakdowns are for the different supply systems, and I sent them an email asking how much the different supplies are mixed up and whether there was in fact a change in chlorine levels.

This is the reply I received a day or two later, which I thought I'd share for the benefit of other Melbourne brewers:

In Heidelberg West the majority of mains water supply is from Sugarloaf and
Silvan reservoirs. There is water transferred from Thomson to Upper Yarra
to Silvan all year this happens regardless of what the storage levels are.
To answer your question yes the water is constantly "mixed up". The major
storage reservoirs supply water via large transfer mains to service
reservoirs throughout the metropolitan area to meet daily and hourly
consumption needs. The water is then transferred to the retail water
companies, which operate the reticulation network within their area of
responsibility. Melbourne Water does not handle the direct supply of water
to the end user in your area it would be Yarra Valley Water.
There was a change approximately three years ago in the disinfection levels
and the chlorine was increase slightly to meet water quality standards set
by the Department of Human Services. DHS set higher levels of compliance
for testing for chloroforms this is currently under review. If you have any
concerns with the water quality it is best to contact Yarra Valley Water on
131 721.

Kind Regards
Nicole Kidd
Customer Support Centre
Melbourne Water Corporation
Ph: 131 722
Fax: 03 9235 2637


EDIT: if any of the moderators would like to relocate this to an appropriate forum feel free! Sorry.
 
And there's more... (phone call from one of the techs at Yarra Valley Water):

Due to low storage levels in the Maroondah and Sugarloaf reservoirs, the Winneke treatment plant (northern and eastern suburbs) is currently supplying a lot of treated Yarra water pumped from downstream collection points. This allows them to keep the upper Yarra levels quite high, and conserve the reservoir water. When the levels are high enough, they'll switch off the pumps and use more Silvan water, which takes less treatment and is cheaper to move because gravity does all the work.

Most Melbourne water is treated with chlorine, not chloramines (this is good news - chlorine evaporates). Because this water travels such long distances and chlorine has such a short life, fairly high levels are sometimes used. If you happen to be served by a decent main, the water is so 'fresh' as it passes that it still contains its high level of chlorine. If you live at one of the further points you'll have less chlorine remaining in your water. Chloramines are used in the far eastern burbs (emerald, seville and wandin were quoted). Removing chloramines requires carbon filtration or the addition of sodium thiosulphate (available from aquarium shops for obvious reasons).

So I hope this is useful info for my fellow Mexican brewers!
 

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