Water

[realtree71]

Curious for you guys on well water. Do you treat it? My ph is ok but it is hard with iron.

Curious your thoughts. My total dissolved solids straight from well is about 310.

Ph - 7.2
TDS 310

Anything else you test?

[Bradster68]

My well is an artesian style. It's always pushing up(but I still use a pump to boost pressure).But I do have iron. Iv never had it test except for my ph. Around 7ish. I don't seem to have a problem with any of my ferments.

[Buffalo]

Our well has some iron also, I drop 2 oz of chlorine down the well to knock out the stuff that feeds on the iron. The well is 400 foot deep. The chlorine is gone within a couple of days. I treat the well once a month to eliminate the H2S smell and taste from the water. Amazon sells SANITIZER PELLETS PENTAIR LP-3000 LANDOMATIC Dry CHLORINATOR. I don't have any issue using the water with ferments.

[realtree71]

Mine doesn’t even really smell. My Rum all comes out good. Was talking to a bourbon guy says well water won’t ever produce a “good” bourbon.

My aquifer is the Midwest Aquifer so my well is about 300’ deep.

[Bushman]

I am also on an artisan well, also some iron but i have a water softener filter set up that gets serviced every couple of months.

[EricTheRed]

30m deep
Ph 6.1
No particulate matter
No filters either
No calcium

[Salt Must Flow]

I'm on well water. My water softener is plumbed throughout the house. I distill in the garage and that water comes straight from the well. I use a RO (Reverse Osmosis) unit to filter all water I use for distilling related purposes.

[still_stirrin]

Hard water is good for English bitter brewing. If there is calcium in the total hardness, it can be good for the yeast. With a TDS of 310, it likely does affect the beer’s taste, however.

On the other hand, iron is hard on yeast and can cause slow or stalled ferments. But, a good “whole house” filter should remove most of the iron. Also, iron can be hard on a water softener, so you need the pre-filter before the softener. And iron will absolutely destroy a reverse osmosis membrane, so you need the pre-filter for a R.O. filter as well.

A water softener would help reduce the TDS in your well water, but as I said, if you also have high iron content, you need a good pre-filter ahead of the softener. And, for tempering your spirits, R.O. water is very good, so put that after the softener as well.

Now, for those with H2S, that does indeed require chlorine injection. H2S is corrosive to household piping so reducing or eliminating it is good.

I remember showering at my father-in-law’s house where he had a lot H2S and when the shower was running, the whole house stank like rotten eggs. And it made the water taste terrible too. Not advisable to drink it.

Water is the greatest component in beer and spirits making, so attention to it is more than just a good idea. It is recommended.
ss

[realtree71]

Thanks every

[Avalir]

I use well water. It is hard water, but not enough so that I get any calcium buildup (never bothered to check pH). And from what I hear, iron is high in the dry season, but never seen any iron/rust stains during the dry season. Best, cleanest water I've ever drank. I do nothing to treat it, nor do I add any kinds of nutrients to my AG ferments, and my product tastes significantly better than back when I was using filtered municipal water.

With the municipal water, my head cuts were always larger - I'm unsure if this was due to chemicals in the water stressing yeast and causing more head production or if it could just be gross flavors in the water predominately carrying over to the heads cut. Either way, I'm glad to be on well water now.