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Vinolozo

Junior
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Ok, I am ready to tackle my next wine but while reading the instructions, it say's not to use spring water or distilled water, to only use "chlorine free" water. I used spring water on my first and only kit so far and it seems to have worked just fine. Any ideas on this? Why wouldn't spring water be acceptible and if I can't use spring water where would I get chlorine free water?
Thanks guys,
Penny
 
The normal spring water will work just fine. They just don't want totally mineral free water since the minerals help the fermentation. I have one of the same wines to start as soon as I free up soom room.
 
If you tap water is acceptable to drink (no off flavors or color) then it is fine to make wine with and don't be concerned about using water that has chlorine or chloramines added.



"Chlorine and chloramines are of no consequence to home winemaking with kits. All processed wine kits contain a nominal amount of sulfite for shelf-stability. When the kit is mixed with chlorinated tap-water, the potassium or sodium in the metabisulphite grab the chlorine and form potassium or sodium chloride (a similar reaction occurs with chlorarmines), forming a stable salt (literally sodium chloride, table-salt in one case in the amount of 2-3 grains per 23 liters) so quickly as to be instantaneous."Edited by: masta
 
masta said:
If you tap water is acceptable to drink (no off flavors or color) then it is fine to make wine with and don't be concerned about using water that has chlorine or chloramines added.



"Chlorine and chloramines are of no consequence to home winemaking with kits. All processed wine kits contain a nominal amount of sulfite for shelf-stability. When the kit is mixed with chlorinated tap-water, the potassium or sodium in the metabisulphite grab the chlorine and form potassium or sodium chloride (a similar reaction occurs with chlorarmines), forming a stable salt (literally sodium chloride, table-salt in one case in the amount of 2-3 grains per 23 liters) so quickly as to be instantaneous."


What about tap water that has run thru a water softner, I have one on the house so I have always bought the .25/gallon water from the Kiosk in front of my supermarket for my wine. I suspect this water is pretty mineral free, so far all my wines have turned out OK except some have been slow to start which up to now I attributed to the cold weather. Should I be getting my water from the bypass on my softner.
 
You will read not to use water that has been through a water softener due to potentially adding sodium to the water and added ions from the resin column.


I have a water softener in addition to acalcite column due to low pH and hard water and have been using thewater from these for over 4 yearswith no problems that I am aware of. Nobody that has tasted any of my wines or beers has told me they taste salty or like ions!
smiley36.gif
 
Chlorinated water contains about 0.5 ppm Cl2. The Cl2 reacts with water and SO3 to form SO4, which exists naturally in most waters. If your water stinks of chlorine, like bleach or an over-chlorinated swimming pool, then you should not use it. Normal tap water chlorination is fine.


Softened water is also not a problem. A softener removes Ca+2 and Mg+2 ions and replaces them with Na+ ions. Na+ ions do not taste salty, it is the Cl- half of NaCl (table salt) that gives the salty taste. A properly operating softener adds no Cl- ions to the water. I can go into greater detail on softener operation if anyone is interested.


In Masta's case, he has hard water (high in Ca+2 and Mg+2 ions) and low pH. Softening a low pH water makes it very corrosive. In order to buffer the water to reduce its corrosive nature, he passes the softened water through a calcite column. Calcite is calcium carbonate - CaCO3. In the presence of soft acidic water the following reaction takes place:


CaCO3 + 2H+ --> Ca+2 + CO2 + H2O


This reaction raises the pH by reacting out the free H+ (which is what acidity is) and buffering the water with Ca+2 ions. The result is water that is less corrosive, but does not have enough Ca+2 ions to be create lime scale problems (the reason for softening in the first place).
 

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