Digital water quality test meter

[jaquiss2005]

Bought one of these recently as getting more interested in water quality /treatment as water in East Kent is VERY chalky

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009 ... UTF8&psc=1

Instructions tell me what to do, but what is it actually telling me???

Reading comes out at 331ppm for tap water and 300ppm for filtered water

 

[Runwell-Steve]

It's telling you how many dissolved solids are in your water, next to useless for brewing purposes.

You need to know what is in your water so you can adjust it accordingly.

Send an email to youy water company and ask you to supply them with values required to populate the forum water calculator here.

water.php

You may be able to get some of the info from your water report, just depends if it is on there or not.

It's worth getting a Salifert Alkalinity testing kit like the one below.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SALIFERT-CARB ... 2eb3eeff52

This measures your alkalinity as this is crucial as it's the alkalinity that affects your Mash pH, the fact you are in Kent you probably have a very high alkalinity so will then need to look at ways to reduce it, this is done using acid. Of course adding Acids can increase the Chlorides and Sulphates in your water so you need to balance that for the type of beer you want. The common answer is CRS/AMS, but with the amount you are likely to need this is likely to send your Chloride level higher than is ideal. Sulphuric Acid may be your friend, if not Phosphoric Acid may be your choice. it really does depend what is the best way to treat your specific water.

As a starting point in Water treatment you might want to pick up a copy of Water http://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Comprehen ... 0937381993

Heavy going but will give you a good background in how water impacts your beer.

 

[krazypara3165]

I know its not good for keeping discus fish thats for sure....

Im new to the game but what is it you test the water for? I have an api master test kit that tests ph, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and a seperate phosphate test kit. Your welcome to send a bottle up and I can test it for you however im not sure how important the results are for brewing....

 

[rpt]

None of those are relevant for brewing. Look at the forum calculator and you will see what measurements you need.

 

[barneey]

Your be on the same water supply as I am - your alkalinity should be 264 CaCO3