Cleaner/Steriliser Analysis Paralysis

[Random Badger]

Hi.

I'm getting back into brewing and need to buy some cleaner/sanitiser, however the more I read the less sure I am of which product to pick! My brewing equipment is currently plastic (apart from the element in my Electrim bin). Star San seems to get a lot of love, but I live in a hard water area and some comments suggest that this might not be the best combination. The local water composition appears to be:

Calcium 66 mg/l Ca
Magnesium 8 mg/l Mg
Flouride 0.10 mg/l
Hardness 197 mg/l CACO3
Alkalinity 164 mg/l CaCO3
Alkalinity 200 mg/l HCO3
Chloride 22 mg/l Cl
Nitrate 10 mg/l NO3
Phosphate 1.9 mg/l P
Sulphate 47mg/l SO4
Sodium 21 mg/l Na
Conductivity 432 μS/cm @200 C

Does anyone know if this will be a deal breaker for using Star San? If so, what's a good alternative please? (I'm currently looking at the range HERE)

If Star San is a viable choice for me, how about THIS which claims to be "the ideal replacement for Starsan & Chemsan in the UK, very similar in composition & it does exactly the same Job."

Cheers!

 

[Cptn_Needa]

I live in a hard water area and use starsan by dropping 7.5ml in to a 5 litre bottle of tesco ashbeck.
I can then either use straight from the bottle or decant in to a sprayer.
Each bottle of ashbeck lasts a good few brews and I’m expecting the starsan to last for a very long time.