Water report with both HCO3 and CaCO3

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Multigrain

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Location
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Hi

I got a waterprofile i want to use in beersmith but I have a question about Alkalinity.

Here a few details.

Calcium - 13.5mg Ca/l
Alkalinity - 16.4mg CaCO3/l
Alkalinity - 14.1mg HCO3-/l

What I get confused about is that it list Alk 2 times. If i use HCO3 in BeerSmith it show "Alkalinity 12 ppm as CaCO3" is that correct? I mean the water report list Alk for CaCO3 and the value I get from BeerSmith is not the same as the water report. Maybe they are not quite the same thing? Should i be considered?
 
Alkalinity as HCO3 is not the same as HCO3. You can get a rough figure for bicarbonate (HCO3) by dividing the alkalinity as CaCO3 by 0.83.

So 16.4/0.83=19.8

Try entering that to see if it works out better.
Ps. That's some good brewing water you've got :thumb:
 
Hi

I got a waterprofile i want to use in beersmith but I have a question about Alkalinity.

Here a few details.

Calcium - 13.5mg Ca/l
Alkalinity - 16.4mg CaCO3/l
Alkalinity - 14.1mg HCO3-/l

What I get confused about is that it list Alk 2 times. If i use HCO3 in BeerSmith it show "Alkalinity 12 ppm as CaCO3" is that correct? I mean the water report list Alk for CaCO3 and the value I get from BeerSmith is not the same as the water report. Maybe they are not quite the same thing? Should i be considered?

Is this profile bottled water?
 
Awesome thank you!

That is the water i get delivered from Severn Trent here in Birmingham. Requested a water report from them.
 
... What I get confused about is that it list Alk 2 times. ...
You are confused? I'm confused! The Beersmith water calculator goes clean over my head, so I stuck with Bru'n Water which is supposed to be maddingly confusing. Water calculation in Beersmith is new, and I think has along way to go to be useable (I use Beersmith for formulating and logging BTW).

Listen to "strange-steve"'s explanation but skip over his calculation and comparing it to what Beersmith is doing because there lies madness. But if you've got water reports you've got to get use to this "as" business. It is a measurement of something "as if" it's something else, or "equivalence" if you like. It's useful, because take for example "Alkalinity": It may really be the result of many salts, but measuring it as if it's just one salt is a whole lot easier to work with.

You've got two "Alkalinity" measurements? Just pick one that you can use and ignore the other.
 
You are confused? I'm confused! The Beersmith water calculator goes clean over my head, so I stuck with Bru'n Water which is supposed to be maddingly confusing. Water calculation in Beersmith is new, and I think has along way to go to be useable (I use Beersmith for formulating and logging BTW).

Listen to "strange-steve"'s explanation but skip over his calculation and comparing it to what Beersmith is doing because there lies madness. But if you've got water reports you've got to get use to this "as" business. It is a measurement of something "as if" it's something else, or "equivalence" if you like. It's useful, because take for example "Alkalinity": It may really be the result of many salts, but measuring it as if it's just one salt is a whole lot easier to work with.

You've got two "Alkalinity" measurements? Just pick one that you can use and ignore the other.


It's sure tricky! Ironically I had some water chemistry calculations in my degree, but not really targeted for Brewing :P But thankfully I have an OK overall understanding of it. Still find it tricky though when used for brewing and adjust it for you need and how to read water chem reports as many values can be stated in different ways.
Thanks for the reference to Bru'n Water, thats new to me. Will look it up

you are lucky....no need to add CRS, and a nice platform (assuming Na, SO4 and Cl are all modest) for you to brew lots of styles.

Yeah im pretty pleased, no reason not to brew! I mainly do Pale Ales and Ambers so that is good. I have minerals to bump up Calcium and Sulphate depending on style.

This is the complete list of values they sent me. I know the pH is about 7.59.

Calcium - 13.5mg Ca/l

Magnesium - 1.8mg Mg/l

Sulphate - 18.9mg SO4/l

Sodium - 11mg Na/l

Chloride - 16.59mg Cl/l

Alkalinity - 16.4mg CaCO3/l

Alkalinity - 14.1mg HCO3-/l
 
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