# Tap water v.s. Bottled water



## termini (Jun 7, 2008)

I was going to start a WE Island mist Kiwi Pear, and was wondering if I could use tap water. 
We have well water that is softened --do I need to worry about the purity and possible sodium from softening?The faucet that I would be getting it from is also filtered through an Amway water filter.
---Or should I wait till Monday and " procure"




a 5 gallon water cooler jug from work as I have done in the past?
Also, are the Island Mist low enough on the Quality/ pricescale where I don't have to worry about it?
(I mean quality as by looking at how there are different levels of WE kits,as you go up in price, so does the 'fullness of the taste' --Walmart 'White Lightnig v.s. Mountain Dew, Generic cola v.s. Coke)*Edited by: termini *


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## Waldo (Jun 7, 2008)

I would go with the bottled water termini


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## grapeman (Jun 7, 2008)

termini can you bypass the softener for a while and draw you water off untreated and then turn it back on?


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## termini (Jun 7, 2008)

Yes, I could do that and just use " hard well water" --any possible problems with the Iron? 
I think I will quit messing around and PLAY IT SAFE.


------YA KNOW... all this talk about this and the other posts that I myself have put in about using 1 gallon pickle jars and corner cutting stuff ,I have seen on other posts, I think that I should post my opinion on these questions-- remember it is a* indictment on myself first*, and I'm kind of answering my own question---
I will be the first to admit that I like to "dumpster dive", and save money on stuff, or gagetize whenever I can (just for the challenge) but sometimes I have to take a step back, and look at the big picture: We are very frugal with our houshold finances and such( thanks to me wifey) but there comes a time when you simply cannot skimp on quality or even the good stuff. It is not like we are going out and having Caviar dinners and the such, So I am answering my own questions sometimes when it comes to this topic: SPEND THE MONEY ON THE TIME TESTED PRODUCTS AND EQUIPMENT *( MYSELF INCLUDED TONY)*
To use an AMWAY phrase" these experienced moderators and senior members have already walked through the minefield, so why not follow in the footsteps instead of wandering off the path into the pungee sticks, Its not like I'M going to pioneer anything earth shattering....Study the forum, Tony,( Me) and learn from the JEDI.
I think in my small brain that these might be shortcuts, but the sound you are about to here is the crowbar prying open my squeeky wallet and buying the $4.00 1 gallon carboy instead of the pickle jar( how much time and money did I even waste on that pursuit) And for sure get some filtered or bottled water.--I sould not be in that much of a hurry to start a batch to compromise the end result. Remember, I will be handing these bottles out to friends ( people I actually like!) and it will speak about me and my quality. Besides, like Appleman and Touchtoomuch reminded me with my Dandelion post, 'youv'e so much work into it so far, why gamble on it'
Sometimes, if you bang your head against the wall long enough, your ears will finally pop out and you can hear what the experts are saying!


But that's just me.......*Edited by: termini *


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## grapeman (Jun 8, 2008)

There is nothing wrong with saving money where one can. There has always been a debate on tap water, city water, softened water, hard water or mucky riverbottom water(well maybe not the last one-I made it up). It's one of those debateable things. Use what you feel comfortable with. 


Here is Masta's take on it from quite a while back.

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<TD vAlign=top rowSpan=4 ="msgableSide"><A name=452></A>masta 
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Posts: 3882 
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My input on an old topic of water for wine making: <?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><?:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O></O>


I have well water and water softening system which uses salt to regenerate the resin column which traps the minerals in the water that make it "hard". I also have a calcite tank that increases the pH because of low pH issues I had when first moving into my house.<O></O>


My system has 2 columns so one is always online and it can regenerate when needed based on total water usage.I used bottled water when I first started making wine but use my tap water now and don't have any problems. The better systems rinse the column well with water before it goes online so salty water should not be an issue.<O></O>


I also use this water for making beer and it has not been an issue although most instructions will tell you not to do it.<O></O>


Maybe a small amount of sodium in the water brings out the flavor of the wine and beer like it does in food when cooking!!!!<O></O>




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</TD></TR></T></T></TABLE>*Edited by: appleman *


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## termini (Jun 8, 2008)

Thanks for the advice, and on letting me vent. 
Once again, Youth and inexperience can be overcome with Old age, wisdom, and trechery.
We save money wherever we can also, and sometimes we just say that on certain items that we shouldn't skip on( thats why we saved in the first place.)
Thats how I buy most of the tools I have to make a living at.It's an investment- like the wine,-- NOT an exspense.
A cheap tool will cost me more in the end if the poor quality rounds off a bolt on a 1300.00 generator and the labor to fix it, or God forbid if this cheap tool breaks and I bust a knuckle or tumble off of a 15 ft high floatplane,



and I'm out of work,



or my wife has to feed me thru a straw.....
At least she can serve me all the wine we made!.....


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## moose (Jun 8, 2008)

I don't know, but we just purchase gallon jugs of water. Just my .02 cents. I'm sure the tap water is fine, drink it every day.


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## smurfe (Jun 9, 2008)

I have used all different types of water for my wines and beers. When I started I was on a municipal water system for my first batch. I used the water right out of the tap, chlorine and all with no issues. I moved and had well water. I was unsure about it so I used bottled water for the next few batches. I then tried our well water and had no issues. 


When I started making beer I was a bit more concerned. Water in beer is much more critical than in wine. The mineral contents and pHin the water can effect the ability to make a beer true to style. Contaminants that can cause infections and off flavors have a better chance of succeeding in their task as the lower alcohol levels will not be sufficient to attack and kill the bacterias. I used a water filter that Lowe's sell that filters contaminants and cysts to filter my well water. 


I am now back on municipal water after we coughed up the change and ran about 1800 feet of water line to reach the city water mains and tapped on to city water. I still use my cartridge filter system to filter the water but now it is to mainly strip the chlorine away. I don't have the filter system hooked up in line with my faucets but rather have it mobile mounted in my brewing area. I use food grade garden hose to pipe water to the filter and have a 10 foot piece of water tubing going out of the filter to fill my pots, etc. I want to mount one under the sink or even a whole house filter but that will have to wait till cooler weather. 


So, to sum all the rambling up. If your water is safe to drink it is safe to use for winemaking. I would try to use it pre-softener though. I think that will give you some off flavors. If you are concerned with bacterias and the such, boil what you are going to use the night before and keep a lid on it while it cools and until you use it. If you do use boiled water it will need to be aerated as you boiled all the oxygen out of it. That is normally accomplished by simply pouring it into the fermenter.


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## corn field (Jun 9, 2008)

I always use bottled water because all of the piping around here is copper and put together with ledded soder. We use it for all of our cooking and drinking. At 69 cents a gallon at wallmart it is price friendly.


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## whino-wino (Jun 9, 2008)

I have a similar problem. I always had "orangish" water so we had it tested two years ago. I had two different water treatment companies come and test the water and they both came up with the same answer. The iron content is 10 parts per million. To put that in perspective, 5 parts per million is considered a pretty bad iron problem. Standard softeners wouldn't do and I had to get the "industrial" model. I also installed a reverse osmosis system (awesome drinking water, highly recommend!!)


I use bottled water which I buy at the local supermarket for all of my wines. The ones here will let you bring in your empties and refill them atforty cents a gallon. New ones are about a dollar a gallon.OnceI had thejugs,it only cost $2 for enough water to do a five gallon batch.


"Good Luck"


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## univity (Jun 10, 2008)

There was a nice article about water in WinemakerMag a while back. Personally, I have only made wine with Distilled water. Since I was a Biochem major back in college, I like to start with the purest souces to help ensure the purest results (thats like rule 1 in lab). Distilled water is just water - no residue from filters, clearing agents, blah blah. Its also pretty cheap - wally world sells it for 46 cents a gallon. Bottled water isnt much better than city treated water. Even treated city water can vary from day to day, distilled is always the same to help give you consistent results - just my opinion tho - who knows if i am "right" or not *Edited by: univity *


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## fish1onthefly (Jun 12, 2008)

So here is my .02
I tried my filter system on the tap water and was amazed what was trapped! I am on city water but I spend the .69/gal for WM water!


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