Jongood Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 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 http://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-big-blue-4-5-x-20-commercial-triple-filtration-system.html?fee=10&fep=5067&gclid=CPrP36PdpckCFdCPHwodsFQFyg Filters for sediment filter 20 micron, 5 micron, & Carbon Block for removing dirt, sediment, and chlorine Softener http://www.lowes.com/pd_416874-43353-WHES33_1z10xx4__?productId=3824563&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1 Additional carbon filtration http://www.amazon.com/Hydro-Logic-31027-Pre-Evolution-Pre-Filter-Evolution/dp/B004LO0HBS/ref=pd_bxgy_60_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1X6QQPSMBKB5NP3H9MTJ RO System http://www.amazon.com/Hydro-Logic-31023-1000-GPD-Evolution-RO1000/dp/B004LNUNKE 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk City Distillers Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk City Distillers Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 By the way, you can get single Big Blue 20x4.5" housings on eBay for $50 shipped, and Big Blue triple housings for half the price of that place. You can find the cartridges much cheaper than that too. There goes, I saved you enough money to get the test for free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jongood Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessicajlemmon Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Just curious, what testing agency did you use? We're in need of the water testing as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3d0g Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Doesn't everyone use Ward Labs? http://wardlab.com 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebstauffer Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jongood Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shindig Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 How did the BIG BLUE 3 stage filter work for you ? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streven Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Looking for feedback on plans for water treatment. Water Info: City Water. Results from Ward Lab attached.Process Water: Carbon Filter - SoftenerBlending 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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