Ward Labs water report: How to enter into Brewer's Friend?

[TigerDave]

Hi all, new subscriber here. Homebrewing since 2016 and am now getting into the whole "water profile and ph" thing.

I got my water report from Ward Labs but am unsure how to enter the values correctly into Brewer's Friend. I've searched the forums and FAQ's to no avail.

My water report shows these values:

• Ca
• Mg
• Na
• Cl
• SO4-S

But Brewer's Friend asks for these values:

• Ca+2
• Mg+2
• Na+
• Cl-
• SO4-2

How do they translate? Keep in mind, while I am a network engineer by trade, I didn't take chemistry in high school! (Doh.)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

it's in your profile, water profiles, very top right and they are the same

 

[TigerDave]

it's in your profile, water profiles, very top right and they are the same

Thank you. I did locate the Water Profile section already, but I had read that you are supposed to take the value for Sulfate from the report and multiply x3 and then enter that result into the BF water profile. Is that false info then?

 

[ChicoBrewer]

Thank you. I did locate the Water Profile section already, but I had read that you are supposed to take the value for Sulfate from the report and multiply x3 and then enter that result into the BF water profile. Is that false info then?

That is my understanding as well. I use brunwater and that's what the instructions say to do

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

If your water report gives Sulfate as Sulfur (SO4-S) such as a Ward Lab's report, multiply by that by 3 to get SO4

 

[Nosybear]

Hi all, new subscriber here. Homebrewing since 2016 and am now getting into the whole "water profile and ph" thing.

I got my water report from Ward Labs but am unsure how to enter the values correctly into Brewer's Friend. I've searched the forums and FAQ's to no avail.

My water report shows these values:

• Ca
• Mg
• Na
• Cl
• SO4-S

But Brewer's Friend asks for these values:

• Ca+2
• Mg+2
• Na+
• Cl-
• SO4-2

How do they translate? Keep in mind, while I am a network engineer by trade, I didn't take chemistry in high school! (Doh.)

Thanks in advance!

The ones in the report simply don't have the ions' charges: Ca+2 is the same as just plain Ca.

 

[TigerDave]

Thanks all. I just read this bit on the Bru'n Water Instructions:

Some water reports may display ion concentrations in standard units such as (as CaCO3, as NO3-N, or as SO4-S). In these cases, the reported concentration must be adjusted to the true ion concentration in ppm or mg/L. Conversion factors for these ions are presented below. A Calculator with these Unit Conversions is provided at the bottom of the Water Report Input sheet.

Ion Conversion
Calcium as CaCO3 (ppm): multiply by 0.401 to convert to (ppm) Calcium
Magnesium as CaCO3 (ppm): multiply by 0.243 to convert to (ppm) Magnesium
Bicarbonate as CaCO3(ppm): multiply by 1.22 to convert to (ppm) Bicarbonate
Carbonate as CaCO3(ppm): multiply by 0.60 to convert to (ppm) Carbonate
Sulfate as Sulfur (ppm as SO4-S): multiply by 3.0 to convert to (ppm) Sulfate
Nitrate as Nitrogen (ppm as NO3-N): multiply by 4.43 to convert to (ppm) Nitrate​