# Well water for wine question



## AkBillyBow (Sep 25, 2017)

Hello,

I am new to making wine at home, so I am doing a lot of reading to get up to speed. I first read that well water is not good to use, as it can be hard with lots of unwanted minerals in it. I then read "if it tastes good to drink, it will make good wine". I think our well water tastes great, but I don't want to ruin a batch of wine if I shouldn't use it.

What kind of pointers can you give me on using well water? Our house has a paper filter system that does remove a lot of rust colored junk from the water. Is this good enough? What about a charcoal filter, like a Brita? Would that be better or would it remove too much and leave my water without enough nutrients for fermentation?

Thanks for the help!!

AkBillyBow


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## Scooter68 (Sep 25, 2017)

I would at least run it through a carbon filter. Has your well water ever been professionally tested for quality? That's where you should look first for answers. Minerals aren't bad within reason but without a water quality check you are just guessing at what's really in the water.


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## AkBillyBow (Sep 26, 2017)

Thanks for the reply Scooter68 ! The water was checked when we bought the house, like 12 years ago. But, I don't remember anything about the results. What exactly would I be looking for in the results of a quality check?

Thanks !!!


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## vacuumpumpman (Sep 26, 2017)

I typically will get city water where I work for wine making , but I have used my water and there has been no issues,


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## Scooter68 (Sep 26, 2017)

I have now taken to using filtered water from WallyWorld or Aldi's. The bottles from Aldis are better caps so I then take those back to the filtered water 'machine' at walmart and pay their $.39 /gallon for refills of filtered and UV treated water. That way I know there is no bacteria initially. 

Is that overkill? Yeah probably but since I normally don't even use a gallon of water for the entire process with a 3 gallon batch I figure the cost is nothing. 

For my Star San mix I have been using Distilled water. Tap water ends up with a cloudy mix immediately so there must be something in our city water reacting with the StarSan chemical. Anyway again for $.88/gallon not a big cost factor.


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## Julie (Sep 26, 2017)

I have well water and do not do anything special with it. If you drink your water directly from the spigot then I would not be concerned about doing anything special.


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## GaDawg (Sep 26, 2017)

If I had good well water that I drank I would make wine with it. I use city water and have never had a problem.


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## tjgaul (Sep 26, 2017)

I'm on a dug well which is good tasting and has moderate minerality (27 grains hardness) and limited iron. I make a wide variety of wines and have always used the water straight from the tap. So far I have not encountered any issues. 

I'm in the camp of "if it tastes good and you drink it out of the tap then it is fine for wine."


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## AkBillyBow (Sep 26, 2017)

Thanks so much for the replies !! I think I will try my first batch directly from my well and see how it goes. I live in Alaska and our well water is some of the best (and coldest!) water I have ever had. I think I will change out my paper filter and use it straight from the well.

Thanks for all of the help !!

AkBillyBow


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## Kiazer (Apr 16, 2018)

AkBillyBow said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am new to making wine at home, so I am doing a lot of reading to get up to speed. I first read that well water is not good to use, as it can be hard with lots of unwanted minerals in it. I then read "if it tastes good to drink, it will make good wine". I think our well water tastes great, but I don't want to ruin a batch of wine if I shouldn't use it.
> 
> ...


Boil it and let it cool..............I let my town chlorine water degas for 24 hours in a sterile bucket


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## AkTom (Apr 17, 2018)

I live in Soldotna and have a well. I make beer, wine and mead with my well water.


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## Kiazer (Apr 17, 2018)

AkTom said:


> I live in Soldotna and have a well. I make beer, wine and mead with my well water.


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## Kiazer (Apr 17, 2018)

nothing better than natural water.......its what makes wine making fun around the world....the different regions


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## Scooter68 (Apr 19, 2018)

_"nothing better than natural water.......its what makes wine making fun around the world....the different regions"_
*Unless you live in Hinkley CA. *

Not all well waters are great for all uses. Likewise Distilled water is not a great idea either.
I would take a quart or gallon glass container of the well water and let it sit for a week.

If your well water has never been tested, have that done. Our world is changing and sometimes you don't know what you don't know. Underground aquifers have been destroyed, poluted or altered without the users having clue until something unfortunate happens - eg Hinkley, CA, in the middle of the desert.

Not trying to start a forest fire but, we all make a few assumptions, most without consequences, but some can be life altering. the wikipedia article linked here ends with a statement about ground water contamination that to me is the bottom line in changing world. I lived in Victorville 37 miles away from Hinkley from (1960) age 10 until I left for college. We never knew or heard of this water issue. Was our water safe? Certainly this is not the only incident of groundwater contamination due to our changing environment. It happens all across our nation and throughout the world. Just suggesting that if your well water has never been tested or hasn't been tested in the last 10-20 years, it might not hurt to do that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinkley,_California


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## drainsurgeon (Apr 19, 2018)

I have some information to share. I was a plumbing contractor and water specialist for 30 years. I am also on well water.

City water, although OK to drink (most of the time), has chlorine added by the city. Let water stand overnight (uncovered) and the chlorine will evaporate. However, (most) city water comes from a well also.

Well water is truly a crap shoot. A water test by a certified lab will run you upwards of $100 or more. They can tell you if it is safe to drink, but still may be hard enough to get your daily calcium. Six months from now, you will have to test it again to make sure it is safe. Aquifers are not underground lakes like many believe. They are underground rivers and water is constantly moving. Water is a universal solvent and dissolves a small portion of whatever it comes in contact with. There are over 600 contaminants that can be in your well water. Like I said, a crap shoot.

Purified water is the best choice for drinking. Osmosis water (like Aquafina) has about 97% of whatever is in your water removed. A TDS (total dissolved solids) meter is a great tool for anyone who wants to know "how much stuff" is in their water. It won't tell you what, but it will tell you how pure the water is. Spring water is NOT purified. I have tested bottled spring water from a popular WI supplier that actually has Nitrates in it. Every bottle from this place has it that I have tested, and its on all the grocery shelves in my area as drinking water. Nitrates, although can be naturally occurring, are almost always from animal or human waste. Stick with Aquafina. Also, carbon filters do not remove much from water. They are a taste and odor filter. A TDS test shows less than 5% removal of contaminants. They are better than nothing, but not by much.

I have an osmosis machine at home and I use it for drinking, cooking, even making wine! They are not cheep and the filters need to be changed annually. A good alternative, like has been suggested, is water from an osmosis machine at your local grocery store. It's usually under 50 cents a gallon. Why risk a batch of wine to water with unknown contaminants.

If this hasn't convinced you, go buy a gallon of osmosis water and try cooking or making a pot of coffee with it. Or better yet, make two cups of tea, side by side. Make one with osmosis water, and one from your tap. You're going to be blown away at the difference of color, aroma and taste. The choice is yours.


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## Kiazer (Apr 19, 2018)

Scooter68 said:


> _"nothing better than natural water.......its what makes wine making fun around the world....the different regions"_
> *Unless you live in Hinkley CA. *
> 
> Not all well waters are great for all uses. Likewise Distilled water is not a great idea either.
> ...


LOL....good for you.......Humanity has had rivers/drainage running through it for eons.....just add k-meta and let nature take its course


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## Kiazer (Apr 19, 2018)

Scooter68 said:


> _"nothing better than natural water.......its what makes wine making fun around the world....the different regions"_
> *Unless you live in Hinkley CA. *
> 
> Not all well waters are great for all uses. Likewise Distilled water is not a great idea either.
> ...


sure let chlorinated water degas for 24 hours.....people who cann vegetables do this....or boil it and let it cool for two hours


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## Raptor99 (Jun 28, 2021)

I plan to move to a new house soon, and it has well water. The water system has a filter and water softener. The filter is this one: Culligan HF-360A Whole House Water Filter System I know that many recommend against using softened water for making wine. Would filtered but not softened well water work? Do you think it would need any further filtering?

I plan to set up a wine room , and I can probably pull in a cold water line taken out after the filter but before the softener.


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## Handy Andy (Jun 29, 2021)

I used to live in a cottage in North Wales, the water came directly from the lake unfiltered. The water was soft and good tasting. The lake also had all kinds of wild life in it. The only thing we found worse than finding a tadpole in your glass of water, was finding half of one when you had nearly finished the glass


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## Rouyea (Jun 29, 2021)

I have been making wine for about three years with well water with no problems.


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## Sailor323 (Jun 29, 2021)

I use well water for all my wine kits and beer. The water is unfiltered and quite hard. Excellent results for all my fermentations.


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## Jim Welch (Jun 29, 2021)

I see this is an old thread now reanimated so I'll add my experience with my water supply. I am a longtime home beer maker and I had my water tested by Ward Labs. They market a brewers test kit. Not sure if this is appropriate for wine making but it let me know what was in my water supply and that helps me "build" an appropriate water profile(s) for different types of beer. This test does not test for bacteria since the wort has to be boiled to make beer anyway.









Water Test Kit - Ward Laboratories, Inc.


If you are ordering the kit from outside of the United States (including U.S Military bases), then please call 1-800-887-7645 or email [email protected] for more information. The following tests & kits include the cost of analysis, prepaid postage, clean sample bottle, and necessary...




www.wardlab.com


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## Raptor99 (Jun 29, 2021)

@Jim Welch Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure what water profile is best for different kinds of wine, but it just makes sense that the flavor of the final product would be affected by the water.


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## Jim Welch (Jun 29, 2021)

I don't think a "water profile" is called for in wine making like it is in brewing certain types of beer just thought I'd mention the Ward Lab info. It seems the old adage that if a water tastes good it is good to use is a fair assessment although there can be some adverse things in water that are tasteless. I do think it is a good idea to have well water tested periodically if it used as drinking water, water is a powerful solvent afterall.


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## Raptor99 (Jun 29, 2021)

We've already had the basic tests done to be sure that it is safe for drinking. Other than that, maybe taste is the best guide.


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## montanarick (Jun 30, 2021)

Been making wine with my well water for some eight years with no issues


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## Steve Wargo (Jul 2, 2021)

I used our well water when making beer. It turned out very well.


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