buildup of fuzzy white stuff on steam boiler&heating element

[Ben Stillin]

We have incredibly hard water with very low iron, which seems ideal for brewing however its terrible for most anything else including my steam boiler.

I start with a fuzzy white buildup after one or 2 refills, it looks like its organic, like algae. Then if I drain the boiler it solidified into a white powder on the element and everywhere below the water line.

Up until now I have been giving the boiler a citric acid wash every few runs to keep it shiny inside but would I be able to say add some food grade phosphoric to my steam boiler to keep the rocks in solution (or turn them into CO2). The boiling point of phosphoric is way above water and even so a tiny bit that escapes shouldn't hurt since I add this acid (or citric) to bring myself to the right pH anyway. Eventually the phosphoric will break down and more will be needed but it shouldn't take much to lower the pH.

any thoughts?

[StillerBoy]

We have incredibly hard water with very low iron, which seems ideal for brewing however its terrible for most anything else including my steam boiler.

If your water gives you such problems, have you tried using water from somewhere else, or bottled water to see if that would help..

Mars

[Ben Stillin]

Certainly, but my steamer is quite large and would need about 35 gallons of distilled or filtered water. I was pondering a solution that would let me use my cheap tap water and still have a clean element and tank.

[Kareltje]

Tried to collect rain? After the first portion that washes the dust out the air, it should be very soft water, almost distilled.

[HDNB]

Tried to collect rain? After the first portion that washes the dust out the air, it should be very soft water, almost distilled.

good for ferment/distill...don't dilute with rainwater, birds shit on roofs. and if you are downwind from a bunch of petro-chemical plants like me, i'd be suspect of that dust that settles on my roof too.

sodium ion would soften the water, but too much sodium the yeast won't like.

a hundred years ago a company called bon-del made a silver ion water filter that worked awesome...i think britta may use similar technology?

[Hank Reardon]

Are you on a public water system? If so, you can get a report from the provider that will give you the test results from your water. If not, I would buy a kit from Hach on amazon and test your water. From there, you can treat it with an appropriate method to take care of the issues. The most obvious is a softener.

[frunobulax]

If your water is that bad and ya brew/still alot, an RO filter may be a good investment. You'll be starting with a blank slate and you can add salts as necessary.

[Ben Stillin]

I'm keen on the softener idea! Would it even impact the mash since the salt should stay in the steam boiler and steam should be the only thing leaving the boiler into the mash. This might just be as simple as throwing a few water softening salt pellets in.

[der wo]

Yes. Why not add a bit citric acid to the steam water?

[Ben Stillin]

Citric is also a pretty good idea, that's how I usually clean it anyway (or phosphoric). It might be the best solution to keep adding water at least until I need to clean out the calcium citrate.

[shadylane]

What kind of element is in the steam boiler
If it's SS or Inconel, it will take a long time for the "fuzzy white stuff" to cause a problem or failure
Edited
That is, if you drain the boiler every so often

[cob]

is your boiler steam injection, or steam jacket ? injection could concentrate minerals faster than a jacket.

[Ben Stillin]

direct steam injection, with 2 6500W SS elements.

I use it for everything except spirit runs.