My water report is a little different (as Ion vs as CaCO3)?

[MNDan]

Hi all - I had a water report done by a friend who works at GE Osmonics (he engineers industrial RO systems). My water report looks different than most I've seen, so which numbers do I plug into the EZ Water Calculator? I also thought it was strange there is no carbonate or bicarbonate measured. The report is below:

Conductivity 636 uSiemens (uS)
pH 7.1
IC Sodium 20.8 mg/L as CaCO3 9.55 mg/L as Ion
IC Calcium 195 mg/L as CaCO3 78.0 mg/L as Ion
IC Magnesium 128 mg/L as CaCO3 31.0 mg/L as Ion
IC Potassium 1.99 mg/L as CaCO3 1.56 mg/L as Ion
IC Chloride 35.1 mg/L as CaCO3 24.9 mg/L as Ion
IC Sulfate 23.2 mg/L as CaCO3 22.3 mg/L as Ion
IC Fluoride 2.39 mg/L as CaCO3 .91 mg/L as Ion
IC Nitrate 1.26 mg/L as CaCO3 1.56 mg/L as Ion
IC Phosphate .38 mg/L as CaCO3 .24 mg/L as Ion
Alkalinity, total 272 mg/L as CaCO3
Silica, reactive 22.8 mg/L
Iron, soluble .03 mg/L

Also, I've always had trouble making my pale ale's and IPA's truly hoppy - is this due to the hardness combined with the low sulfate? I also always have a heck of a time with lighter beers like wit beers as well, and I assume it is due to the hardness. I add lactic acid to try to adjust the pH, but I feel like the only way I can make good lighter beers with with RO water.

thanks!
dan

 

[ajdelange]

Interesting. I have never seen sodium (or most of the others) listed "as CaCO3". For most of the ions you will use the mg/L as the ion number. The Ca "as CaCO3" number is the calcium hardness and the Mg "as CaCO3" number is the magnesium hardness. The sum is the total harndness.

The bicarbonate is expressed through the alkalinity. Divide the alkalinity number by 50 and then multiply by 61 to get the approximate bicarbonate ion content in mg/L as the ion.

Wimpy hoppiness may be caused by the low sulfate levels and the low calcium levels will tend to keep mash pH high. An easy fix is supplementation with gypsum. That should get a decent IPA for you.

This isn't great water for lighter beers as the alkalinity is quite high. Dilution with RO or use of 100% RO water (both with mineral supplementation as required) is probably the easiest way to go though you could decarbonate to some extent by boiling or lime treatment.

 

[MNDan]

Thanks AJ - was hoping you would reply!