By Mike Retzlaff
Some years ago, I worked for a Research Institute which was involved in all sorts of things. One aspect was a water lab. Among the various projects involved was a NASA contract to develop a system to convert astronaut urine into clean drinking water. This seems to be a rather obvious need after only a few seconds thought. There is a finite amount of weight any rocket can lift into orbit. Water is relatively heavy and any reduction in mass is helpful; reuse of water important.
Another project was casting semi-permeable membranes to filter water. The same material was spun into hollow fibers and enclosed in tubes as external artificial kidneys.
In conjunction with these other projects was a contract with the EPA to examine municipal water supplies. Tanker trucks were dispatched to various communities to retrieve a sample of what was delivered to the community from the local water-works. These 500 gallon samples were reduced to 5 gallons through a Reverse Osmosis process. The five gallons left after the pure water was removed, consisted of various salts and other minerals. Some left a few inches of residue in the bottom below what looked like dirty water. The absolute worst of these came from Miami, Fla. The 5 gallon carboys containing the residual components of this water looked horrendous. There was very distinctive layering of various materials and the little bit of liquid on top was a sickly brown and gray color through which you couldn’t shine a light.
It shouldn’t be that surprising as the water aquifers in the Florida peninsula are embedded in ancient coral reefs. I am unaware of anyone in that part of the peninsula who doesn’t have a water softening unit in their home to make the municipal water usable for washing and cooking.
The municipal water in Houston, Texas is also a bit challenging although far from that of Miami. Without substantial adjustment, Houston’s water seems to be best suited for Brown Ales.
The municipal water in the New Orleans metro area comes from the Mississippi River. When you consider the run-off from 31 States and 2 Provinces in Canada are drained by the river, it seems a monumental task to render such water safe to drink. The run-off consists of everything that falls from the sky or is dumped into it by sewerage plants, oil refineries, chemical plants, or simply agricultural effluence. Unless it evaporates, the water heads to New Orleans. However, our several local water-works provide water that is not only safe to drink but is tasty and soft enough for Pale Ales.
Gordon Strong recommended that you don’t really worry too much about your water’s mineral content unless –
a. It smells or tastes bad,
b. It contains chlorine or chloramines,
c. It has high levels of carbonates.
In such cases, you really need to do something about your water chemistry but usually this doesn’t involve drastic changes.
Water represents around 95% of what’s in your finished beer. That’s enough reason to delve into the subject and to possibly make corrections as needed. There are several articles on this site which get into the nuts and bolts of adjusting water for brewing which include dilution with distilled or R/O water. Do some reading and understand what is necessary before becoming frenzied over the challenges of water chemistry.
Crescent City Brew Talk 