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You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Brewing Forum --> Brewing Discussion --> Issues and questions with house water

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AgedAardvark
SLC, UT
53 Posts


Ok, here's the scenario:

I'm in Salt Lake City, which is supposed to have great water for brewing.  I own a water softener which I know is no good, so I've been brewing with water purchased in 2.5 gallon jugs from the grocery store.  

I was down in my equipment room the other day, and I noticed/remembered that my softener has a bypass.  So, now I'm thinking I could turn on the bypass, let the water run for 5 minutes upstairs, and then take the water out of the kitchen sink.  Thoughts on this?  Shouldn't be a problem if the pipes have been running softened water for years, should it?  They're not going to effect the water in a negative way? 

The next question is, I understand I need to collect the water I need the night before brew day and let it sit out?  It's probably got chemicals in it that need to outgas before I brew?  Is that right?






Posted 34 days ago.

chino_brews
Charter Member
Eden Prairie, MN
301 Posts


I would imagine that it doesn't matter that your pipes have been running soft water. Any residual softened water will be in the low PPMs by the time you run "hard" water for 5 minutes.

The only reason to let water sit out is to off-gas chlorine if and only if you verify with your water supplier that they never use any chemical other than chlorine for disinfection (i.e., never use chloramine). Chlorine will off-gas over time (overnight), or you can boil the water for 10 minutes to speed the process. Chloramine is very hard to boil out, but you can dechlorinate water -- whether the supplier uses chlorine or chloramine - by dissolving one crushed Campden tablet into 20 gal. of cold brewing water. You can split the Campden tablet or buy powdered Campden for smaller amounts of water.




Posted 34 days ago.

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