Will using tap water be "ok"

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This is the report for my area never had any problems with any of the brews I’ve done either kit or All grain

To say you ain't a million miles away matey the water looks completely different

Screenshot_20211031-130403_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
Yeah different reservoirs etc between us mate only 27 miles apart and most of ours come from the reservoirs around the tops of the Calder Valley. Interestingly the local water is only a little dissimilar to the water that came out of the well at Websters Fountain Head Brewery.
 
Supply Zone:Halifax 2004
Areas Covered:Akroydon, Boothtown, Cornholme, Hebden Bridge, Luddenden Foot, Mytholmroyd, Siddal, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Walsden
Report Period:1st January 2018 - 31st December 2018
Water hardness type:Soft
Water hardness average:13.6 mg/l calcium
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SubstanceTypical ValueUK/European limitUnit
Calcium10.4mg Ca/l
Magnesium1.9mg Mg/l
Residual chlorine - free.47mg/l Cl2
Residual chlorine - total.55mg/l Cl2
TotalColiforms00no/100ml
EColi00no/100ml
Aluminium6.5200µg Al/l
Colour1.120mg/l Pt/Co Scale
Conductivity1312500µS/cm
Fluoride.051.5mg F/l
Turbidity.164NTU
pHHydrogenIon7.66.5 - 9.5pH Units
Iron10.4200µg Fe/l
Manganese.750µg Mn/I
Nitrate1.8650mg NO3/l
Nitrite.0020.5mg NO2/l
Sodium13.4200mg Na/l
Copper.01092mg Cu/l
Lead.110µg Pb/l
There's a lovely bit in that report that I'm surprised no-one has picked up. It's one of those irritations I have with water reports! I'm always banging on about measurements being "as" something because it's a convenient means of measurement. In this report we have "hardness" with a value of 13.6 mg/L calcium, and Calcium measured to 10.4 mg/L.

How can calcium have two differing measurements?

Answer: 'Because they haven't been bothered to put the word "as" for hardness. But they do display the calcium value in "mg Ca/L" which will be some other hokum to get your head around.

They put this info out to the public written in code that they don't explain,

Grr ... it winds me up!
 
There's a lot of sound advice in the preceding posts, but if you are still a bit unsure then keep it simple, and deal with the important things first:

1/ If you do nothing else then at least put 1/2 a Camden tablet into the whole volume of your brewing water. This will neutralise the chlorine and chloramines. I leave mine overnight, but as long as it has fully dissolved you can use the water immediately.
2/ Download a water analysis report. They are not easy to interpret, but if its anything like the United Utilities reports in the NW, they will tell you if the water is hard or soft. If it's soft, i.e. low Ca and low Mg then it's relatively easy (using one of the many available calculators) to work out what salts you may need to add to achieve the water profile for a particular style of beer. If its hard, then it can get a bit more complicated. You can preboil the water to precipitate out the salts contributing to the hardness, but this is energy intensive, and more expensive now. So, I would suggest that you just leave it alone.

The correct salt/ion balance does affect the flavour profile of the beer, but not by so much that a failure to do it right, or even anything at all, will ruin the beer. You will still be able to make a very drinkable brew. Probably the only exception to this is a pilsner style lager because the flavour profile is so subtle that every fault shows up.
Good luck athumb..
 
Heh! I am in the " If you do nothing else then at least put 1/2 a Campden tablet into the whole volume of your brewing water. This will neutralise the chlorine and chlorinates." camp.

I never even used to do that, on the basis that "my water doesn't smell or taste of chlorine", but have been persuaded by posters here that it's not just about that, it's about the chloramines that may be produced during brewing. My tap-water is pleasantly soft, though.
 

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