Well water quality

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SnuffyG
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Posts: 12
Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 1:56 pm
Location: East of the Mississippi

Well water quality

Post by SnuffyG »

Here are the recent results of my well water analysis. I was wondering if I should use this for my recipes or go buy water. I will be making sugar washes like WPOSW. I can taste the iron, and we have been drinking, cooking, bathing and washing with this water for 35+ years. It will stain sinks after a couple of months if we do not keep them clean. Thanks Snuff.

pH 7.10
Hardness 6 grains
Aluminum < 0.005 ppm
Barium < 0.005 ppm
Boron < 0.05 ppm
Calcium 17.2 ppm
Chromium < 0.005 ppm
Copper <0.005 ppm
Iron 0.319 ppm
Magnesium 1.61 ppm
Manganese 0.066 ppm
Nickel < 0.005 ppm
Potassium 2.50 ppm
Sodium 5.95 ppm
Strontium 0.100 ppm
Zinc < 0.005 ppm

Following are in parts per billion:

Antimony, Arsenic, Beryllium, Cadmium, Lead, Molybdenum, Selenium were all <1 PPB
Thallium <0.2 PPB
Vanadium <0.3 PPB
Mercury <0.05 PPB
StillerBoy
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Location: Ontario

Re: Well water quality

Post by StillerBoy »

You must live near a highly populated area and the winds are blowing in your direction.. your water has lots of compounds I would be concern with for fermentation and health wise..

From a personal health concern, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, aluminum, are all heavy metal that the body can not process, so it stays in the body and cause low level health issues over time..

As to using the water for fermentation with, I would consider adding a water filter system or use water from somewhere else..

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Butch27
Swill Maker
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Re: Well water quality

Post by Butch27 »

Personally I like rainwater that has been allowed to settle out. However if StillerBoy is right about the source of those heavy metals it would not be a good option for you. Maybe buying some RO water would be the way to go. We can refill our own 5 gallon jugs here at machines in a store for a buck so it would not add much expense to a ferment. Just the inconvenience of having to get it and lug it home.
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still_stirrin
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Re: Well water quality

Post by still_stirrin »

Iron is high. And iron will hurt yeast. If you get a whole house filter, a softener, and then reverse osmosis filter it will be good to drink and great to brew with. Otherwise, you’ll need to periodically replace your water heater and faucets in the house.

I don’t see any organics in your analysis. So, that is goodness. At least the groundwater isn’t contaminated by animal feces.

Farm water will be OK to brew provided you prepare it properly. And that means clean it....with a filter system.
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SnuffyG
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Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 1:56 pm
Location: East of the Mississippi

Re: Well water quality

Post by SnuffyG »

Forgot to add that it is a punched well 310 feet deep. tried to bore a well but kept hitting solid rock at around 15 feet in several places. thanks all I will look into filtration.
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SmokyMtn
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Re: Well water quality

Post by SmokyMtn »

I am in the same situation. My well water is less than perfect. I source my stillin water from a spring and an artesian well. I would reach out to the county and state. Our water is monitored by state board of health and county health department. They periodically check for contaminates and results are public. They can also tell you the locations if you're unfamiliar.

I take a small bucket to catch the water and drop in a bilge pump 600gph. Run a pex pipe from pump to barrels. I wired my pump to a trailer 4-flat connector. Plugs in underneath back bumper, instead of popping the hood for 12v. A switch wired within arms reach of the pump is nice to have. Once home I pump water from barrels in truck to empty barrels on the ground.

Hopefully where you live has a public water source. Usually seeing people with jugs on the shoulder of the road is a good sign.

Just remember water is heavy and a PITA to carry. More trips is better than overloading your vehicle.

I realize this is inconvenient compared to turning on a faucet. But I'm not out a great deal of money this way. Good luck
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