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Water profile and Granular Activated Carbon filtering

x3la

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I'm experimenting with Water Profiles.

I have the following Granular Activated Carbon filter which I'm going to experiment with: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006IX87S/

Has anyone any experience using these filters with Water Profiles? I read the following which states that "The Brita filter produces water that is practically ion free, at least for the water tested, and should be treated like pure (distilled) water. "

http://brewery.org/library/FiltBrita0596.html

This would be ideal as I can then select "Distilled Water" from the BeerSmith profiles and add salts accordingly to target a particular water profile.
 
x3la said:
"The Brita filter produces water that is practically ion free, at least for the water tested, and should be treated like pure (distilled) water. "

http://brewery.org/library/FiltBrita0596.html

This would be ideal as I can then select "Distilled Water" from the BeerSmith profiles and add salts accordingly to target a particular water profile.

Reading Bru'n Water "Water Knowledge" tab suggests that the existing minerals will be left (so perhaps I cannot consider the water 'distilled' post filter):

"Filtering brewing water through activated carbon is an effective chlorine removal alternative.  Both chlorine and chloramine are removed from the water while leaving the other water minerals.  Filtering with activated carbon can also remove other water contaminants such as organic compounds that degrade water taste and odor.  The flow rate through the filter affects the removal performance.  Low flow rate through an activated carbon filter is required to provide acceptable chlorine and contaminant removal performance. The flow rate through a standard under-sink (10") activated carbon filter should be no greater than 1 gallon per minute to achieve good chlorine removal. The flow rate needs to be reduced to about 0.1 gallon per minute when chloramines must be removed from the water with that filter size. Inserting a restrictor in the water supply line with a 1/16-inch diameter hole will reduce the flow rate to about 1 gallon per minute.  The flow rate through smaller-sized carbon filters should be further reduced to produce adequate removal."
 
Get yourself a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter (they're inexpensive) and check your water before and after filtering. This won't give you any information about various ion levels in either sample, but will show you what kind of overall effect the filter has. I'm sure you'll find that even a new Brita filter doesn't come anywhere close to stripping the water of ions. Do a search for and read the NSF/ANSI standards cited for both the Brita filter and the one you're considering. You'll find that they have to do with aesthetic and health standards for drinking water, not ion reduction.

If you want to start with a clean slate, use either distilled or RO water. RO water dispensing machines can be found at most super markets and allow you to fill your containers for about $ .40/gallon. I get mine at our local Walmart or Safeway. Your TDS meter will come in handy for checking the water from these machines.

Before filling your jugs, take a sample in a small paper cup and check the TDS level. I found one machine locally that was putting out water with TDS in the 90ppm range. Much better than our 500+ ppm tap water, but not what I want to use as a base for building brewing water profiles. I consider under 20ppm to be acceptable.
 
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