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Water Filtration/RO Setup Help


Jongood

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Hey Guys...Starting to look into our water treatment systems and have put together the systems below. Based on the water criteria we have here...attached...what is everyone's thoughts on this system?

Water Info: City water that originates from 4 wells within the county. Considered "Hard" water. Main water inlet to building is 3/4"

There are 2 main systems. The first system will be our process water with the 2nd system being our finishing water.

Process water system-Flow: Sediment Filter-Softener
Finishing Water System Flow: Sediment Filter-Softener--Additional carbon filtration-RO System
Initial Sediment filter
Filters for sediment filter
20 micron, 5 micron, & Carbon Block for removing dirt, sediment, and chlorine
Softener
Additional carbon filtration
RO System
Some major questions are:
1). if the additional carbon filtration prior to the RO system is necessary sense the water first passes through the carbon block within the sediment filter then the softener prior to even entering the RO system.
2). Should the softener be upgraded to output greater than 15gpm.
Thanks for the advice guys...welcome any input or opinions.
Best.

post-11981-0-06384900-1448394099_thumb.p

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Do you have any additional water analysis/test results you can share? The report includes some detail about the items they are required to report, but doesn't include the basics. It should include elements like Alkalinity, Carbonate, Bicarbonate, Chloride, Sulfate, Calcium etc. You might want to ask the local water authority for a more comprehensive report.

If not, you might want to spend a few dollars to have the water tested by a company that specializes in doing water tests for brewing. There are plenty of top quality labs that have a really cost effective program for home brewers that would work just fine. It should probably cost less than $50 with shipping the sample to them.

I wouldn't do anything until I knew the exact numbers. Depending on the level of "Hardness" and specifically where the hardness is coming from, it might not be a big enough problem to warrant a softener. In some cases, if your sodium is high, and your "hardness" isn't very hard at all, you are going to create an even bigger problem by stripping out what you need, and replacing it with what you don't. (This is focused on mashing and fermentation, not product dilution).

A good book on the topic is Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers by Palmer and Kaminski. While you wait you can peruse some of Palmer's free material: http://howtobrew.com/book/section-3/understanding-the-mash-ph/what-kind-of-water-do-i-need

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Thanks James,

I have put in a request for a full report and will be sending out samples for testing. Also thank you for the ebay recommendation. i was able to find them at a significantly lower price.

Appreciate the help. i'll update this post once i receive the test results.

best.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Filters for sediment filter
20 micron, 5 micron, & Carbon Block for removing dirt, sediment, and chlorine

Be certain to check with your water company to see if they truly use chlorine or chloramines to treat water. The latter is more difficult to remove. See this post:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=506925

Martin is quite knowledgeable.

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Thanks for the input guys. Attached is the water analysis report we received from KAR Labratories here in Kalamazoo, MI. The service and quality was great so Jessicalemmon we definitely recommend them. They have packages specifically for the brewing and distilling industry (see website below). They also have a variety of other test/mail order kits that are reasonably priced.

http://www.karlabs.com/brewing-water.htm

Based on this analysis it looks like most elements are within the ideal range with the exception of bicarbonate and magnesium being on the upper end of the desired range. Overall hardness appears to be acceptable enough to not warrant a water softener.

With this report it appears the setup below is the best method. Can you comment on this revised setup or the report in general?

· Process water system-Flow: Sediment Filter

· Finishing Water System Flow: Sediment Filter-Additional carbon filtration-RO System

Initial Sediment filter

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TRIPLE-3-STAGE-BIG-BLUE-WATER-FILTERS-CLEAR-HOUSING-4-5-X-20-WITH-1-NPT-/151401333222?hash=item23403901e6:g:qxIAAOSwRLZUB9da

Filters for sediment filter

20 micron, 5 micron, & Carbon Block for removing sediment, iron, and chlorine

Additional carbon filtration

http://www.amazon.co...PSMBKB5NP3H9MTJ

RO System

http://www.amazon.co...0/dp/B004LNUNKE

Thanks again for all the info to date.

Best.

Water Analyses Report_12-9-2015.pdf

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  • 7 months later...
  • 9 months later...

Looking for feedback on plans for water treatment. 

Water Info:  City Water.  Results from Ward Lab attached.

Process Water:  Carbon Filter - Softener

Blending Water:  Same as process water but additionally run through RO system

I am planning to run through the carbon filter before softening because I detect a faint smell of chlorine as the water comes out of the tap.  The water results show 47 PPM for Chloride, so from other's experience, I'm curious if a single run through a carbon filter will be sufficient?  Or is it that critical for process water?

Is there anything else in the report that I will need to address through treatment either for process or blending water?

Water1.pdf

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