Rainwater? Good or bad

[Ducatiboy stu]

All tank rainwater I have ever tasted tastes horrible, even compared to Adelaide tap water. I know that is a large statement.

I would brew with rainwater if I really had to but would make sure it was boiled/sanitised/filtered somewhere along the line.

You obviously havnt tasted much good rainwater then

 

[superstock]

Whether rain water tastes good is not the concern, it's the bacterial count that is of concern. Town water is treated and has a very low bacterial count. We as a group are concerned about contamination of our product and most of the prolific posters on this forum advocate sanitation of everything to do with the brew. Now these same people seem to be advocating the use of water that is suspect in its cleanliness......go figure!

P.S. I too live in the bush on the outer fringe of a major city, after 40+ years suburbia is only a few kliometers away, so I now have town water as well as tank. I used to boil the tank water but I now use town water straight from the tap. Haven't noticed any difference in the brew and I've never had an infection. Touch wood.

 

[pcmfisher]

Your tap water goes through old crappy pipes for hundreds of kms. How could you think that was cleaner than tank water. Tank water is great to brew with, tastes so clean compared to fluoridated tap water

You can taste fluoride in tap water?

 

[pcmfisher]

You obviously havnt tasted much good rainwater then

Obviously not!

 

[wombil]

I have been using water straight from the tank for 30 years.Makes terrific beer.
I think the bird shit etc improves it ok.
Everything is boiled for 60 minutes anyway.
I don't have town water either and don't want it.

 

[Ross]

Ghizo,

There's some good advice amongst the chaff here...

Quite simply, tank water needs to be boiled or treated to kill any bacteria present. If you are grain brewing, this happens in the process, but if you're kit brewing, which I assume you are with where this question was posted, you'll need to add this step in. Personally, when i kit brewed, i found it easier to pick up jerry cans of water from friends on mains water, when I wanted to brew.
As MHB pointed out, water quality especially from tanks can be very variable, from a host of different factors, so the only real way to find out, is to brew & taste.

Cheers Ross

 

[wide eyed and legless]

It isn't microbial hazards I would be worrying about, its the chemical hazards, boiling will not eliminate chemicals which will find their way into rainwater tanks.

 

[Ross]

It isn't microbial hazards I would be worrying about, its the chemical hazards, boiling will not eliminate chemicals which will find their way into rainwater tanks.

Maybe you like drinking infected beer, but I consider microbial hazards well worth worrying about!!!
Anyone on a tank water, should already have carbon filters etc to ensure the drinkabillity of the water, & as I said, the quality of tank water can vary considerably with the only real test, being the flavour of the final beer.

Cheers Ross

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Maybe you like drinking infected beer, but I consider microbial hazards well worth worrying about!!!
Anyone on a tank water, should already have carbon filters etc to ensure the drinkabillity of the water, & as I said, the quality of tank water can vary considerably with the only real test, being the flavour of the final beer.

Cheers Ross

No, I don't drink infected beer I brew mine from tap water, the water from the tank would inevitably be boiled so eliminating the micro bacteria in the water, simple.

And carbon filters will not filter out chemicals either.

 

[Benn]

What if I put my tap water in my water tank, will that make water tank tap water or tap tank water?

 

[Vini2ton]

It's not that long ago that no water was ever considered safe to drink unless it was boiled first. Fermented beverages were safe to drink and I carry on that tradition. One can never forget what the great W C Fields said as to why he refrained from drinking water. People sometimes put fish in their water tanks to purify it. Vile depraved creatures they are. The tank owners and the nymphomaniacal fish.

 

[MHB]

Snip -
And carbon filters will not filter out chemicals either.

Actually activated carbon will remove a lot of chemicals but no not all.
It will remove most Halogens, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, quite a few minerals and metals especially some very nasty ones and/or their organic derivatives see TEL (tetraethyl lead) (admittedly less common than it was but still lots of it in the environment), if you had an aluminium refinery with in a few dozen km's you might want think about what you are drinking!

Like it or not; not all tank water is a wonderful brewing water - some is but not all - it would be sensible to have some basic testing done.
Mark

 

[drsmurto]

No, I don't drink infected beer I brew mine from tap water, the water from the tank would inevitably be boiled so eliminating the micro bacteria in the water, simple.

And carbon filters will not filter out chemicals either.

What chemicals are you referring to?

A carbon filter will remove organic compounds but not dissolved, inorganic ions.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

And carbon filters will not filter out chemicals either.

Umm....actually they do

Thats the whole point of using them

You might want to read this WEAL.....


Carbon filtering

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia







This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2013)
Carbon filtering is a method of filtering that uses a bed of activated carbon to remove contaminants and impurities, using chemical absorption.
Each particle/granule of carbon provides a large surface area/pore structure, allowing contaminants the maximum possible exposure to the active sites within the filter media. One pound (450 g) of activated carbon contains a surface area of approximately 100 acres (40 Hectares).
Activated carbon works via a process called adsorption, whereby pollutant molecules in the fluid to be treated are trapped inside the pore structure of the carbon substrate. Carbon filtering is commonly used for water purification, in air purifiers and industrial gas processing, for example the removal of siloxanes and hydrogen sulfide from biogas. It is also used in a number of other applications, including respirator masks, the purification of sugarcane and in the recovery of precious metals, especially gold. It is also used in cigarette filters.
Active charcoal carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), taste and odor from water. They are not effective at removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds.
Typical particle sizes that can be removed by carbon filters range from 0.5 to 50 micrometres. The particle size will be used as part of the filter description. The efficacy of a carbon filter is also based upon the flow rate regulation. When the water is allowed to flow through the filter at a slower rate, the contaminants are exposed to the filter media for a longer amount of time.

 

[Batz]

If I did not brew with tank water I could not brew at all, in fact I would get rather thirsty as well. Not everyboy lives where there is town supplied water, and I'm glad I don't.
I'm really supprized how people believe rain water collected from their roof is not as safe as what comes out of your city taps.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

.
I'm really supprized how people believe rain water collected from their roof is not as safe as what comes out of your city taps.

Yep

If you believe what people say, those that rely on tank water would have all died out by now

I never had any filters on my tanks, when my kids where new born they drank straight tank water, never boiled it, never filtered it

Never got sick from it, nor have any of the many people I know who are on tank water

 

[drsmurto]

Yep

If you believe what people say, those that rely on tank water would have all died out by now

I never had any filters on my tanks, when my kids where new born they drank straight tank water, never boiled it, never filtered it

Never got sick from it, nor have any of the many people I know who are on tank water

Likewise. I grew up on the stuff, We only got 'tap water' late in my teenage life. When i moved to the city (Adelaide) to go to uni I would go home each weekend and fill up containers of rainwater to keep me going for a week. Couldn't stand the taste of the water out of the tap.

Now living well away from the city i love the fact i have access to rainwater and my kids(s) get the same experience I did. As for brewing, mine has been analysed to be below 0.1 ppm for all of the brewing salts so it's free RO water.

Whilst I am a chemist and understand why the relevant chemicals added to water are there, the taste of rainwater wins every day of the week.

 

[Batz]

Yep

If you believe what people say, those that rely on tank water would have all died out by now

I never had any filters on my tanks, when my kids where new born they drank straight tank water, never boiled it, never filtered it

Never got sick from it, nor have any of the many people I know who are on tank water

Never had a filter or boil my tank water either, hell I bet I've even used malted grain pass it use by date. No chilled and many other death defying practices.

 

[rockeye84]

Both my grandparents drank & lived on rainwater for years, one is still going and pushing 90, so if you think rainwater shit for brewing full of toxins.. Lol go back to school and re sit your chemistry degree.. Got pretty hard mains water where I live, chocked full of shit, it's about ~900ppm TDS, run a batch thru a RO unit for a brew a few weeks ago, most horrible astringent brew I've made in years. Done over 40 double batches with rainwater, all have been pretty decent. As far I'm concerned rain water is hard to beat for all grainers..

 

[wide eyed and legless]

In your article stu.



Active charcoal carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), taste and odor from water. They are not effective at removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds.
Typical particle sizes that can be removed by carbon filters range from 0.5 to 50 micrometres. The particle size will be used as part of the filter description. The efficacy of a carbon filter is also based upon the flow rate regulation. When the water is allowed to flow through the filter at a slower rate, the contaminants are exposed to the filter media for a longer amount of time.

Chemicals and heavy metals will not be removed by active carbon, who is to say how effective the carbon filter is that one purchases, even if you stepped it up to a reverse osmosis there is still no guarantee it will be efficient enough to remove everything plus it would probably remove more water than you would want.

In the end I don't know why you guys on tank water are worrying, your making a carcinogenic toxin anyway.