Home Distiller

If you have a large still it could get quite expensive buying distilled water. Can tap water (CITY WATER) be used, and if so the best way to go about it.
TXS Gene

The city water would actually be better. The distilled water is missing minerals that the yeast need. Just gotta let the city water sit open for a day to let the chlorine evap off.

How about the fluoride in tap water ? Strange too, several sites I've visited advised using distilled water. and one site recommended filtering of tap water.
PS. TXS Richard

I am only passing on what I have learned from this site. From all I have read on other sites and this one HD (this site) seems to me to have the best info. It's funny you bring up fluoride, out of all I have read I never heard any advice on that! Any opinions on that?

I know an opinion without 3.14 is just an onion. If you don't get that, just check out the jokes on this forum.
Good luck to ya, Hoser1

You're right Richard, all that left is a onion, LOL. I hope maybe someone would comment about the flouride, I'm curious if it would cause a bad taste, or does it even matter.

i have used tap water for over 3 yrs. as is . no problems but alot of water systems may vary as far as floride, ph and minerals. just try it , adjust ph if needed . if it works it aint broken.

In all my years of brewing, I never had a problem with the city water supply. With all water sources, you want to adjust PH and softness for maximum benefit to the yeast, but even in my early days as a home brewer, I never had problems with city supplied water even if I didn't have the additives to balance the PH, etc out.

I'm on a well at the house. Lucky to be drawing from the same aquifer as a once famous distillery (which a bunch of 'dry' jerks burned down just after prohibition ended) and aside from a household salt softening system, nothing gets added to it.

But yeah, you should be fine, and Flouride is added in such minute quantities, it really won't make a difference.

I think the bigger worry would be chlorine as it can stress the yeast creating an off taste and smell.

chlorine can quickly be removed by adding Hydrogen peroxide to the water, if you do a google search on that I'm sure youll find the right proportions for it. It has the benefit of also oxygenating your wort in seconds what takes 30 minutes to do with a whisk.
Just as a trial if you have some, put 4 or 5 drops in a glass of water and taste, magically the chlorine is gone.
There is a huge discussion on it in one of my beer forums, I'll see if I can find it. Was brought up by a chemist

scratch that, simple carbon filter is easier although neither will help if you have chloromine instead of chlorine

Just for interest though
http://www.h2o2.com/industrial/applicat ... lorination
http://hbd.org/discus/messages/40327/41985.html

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Bring the tap water to a vigorous boil for awhile, let cool, and aerate. Chlorine is gone, don't know if the boiling gets rid of fluoride though.

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Boiling water will actually increase the fluoride in the water, to remove fluoride you need to either distill the water or find a alumina filter.

Chlorine is no big deal to treat. Just make sure you're not like me and have Chloramine in the water. Totally different beast.

Txs everyone for your help. From your input I have gathered the following: 1. Try your tap water just the way it comes out of the tap, and see first hand if the end product is to your personal liking. 2. If you are not satisfied with your TAP Water, then use Campden tablets to eliminate both free chlorine, and the more stable form, chloramine. At $8.00 for 100 tablets it's cheaper than boiling water or filtering, and a lot more efficient than either. It's easy to use, smash up one (1) tablet and mix in per 20 gals of water. For futher interest go to the following site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campden_tablets" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

If anyone has anything else to add, it would be appreciated.

mystakilla wrote:Boiling water will actually increase the fluoride in the water, to remove fluoride you need to either distill the water or find a alumina filter.

I think we plan on distilling the water in the end. Does anyone know if this will take care of any fluoride issues that we may encounter? Sorry, I don't have the answer other than I know I can't tell it's in my drink, as I make it from city water.

From what I've gathered Richard, the flouride doesn't seem to be a problem, only the Chlorine may have an effect on the possible taste and yeast growth.

fluoride can inhibit yeast growth, as it binds with minerals preventing the up take and also preventing o2 exchange.
a activated carbon filter will remove it.

In researching the matter this is what I found: Flouride is rather common, it's found naturally in most water regardless if it's springs, ground water,rivers, streams, or city water. Defluoridation is needed when the naturally occurring fluoride level exceeds recommended limits, however, the small amount that is used and regulated in city water should not present any problems. For more information click on the following link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow