Test my own water.

[pures]

been looking over the various LaMotte individual test kits to try and build a my own test kit to measure my water for brewing. I'm on a personal shallow well 30 yards off a river, with a small water processing system on it ( no RO). I know the seasons change my water profile, is there a list somewhere of test kits I could use, so I know what I have?

[anday6]

There's a lab called Ward labs that will do the analysis for you. If you test the different seasons that should give you an idea how your water changed throughout the year.

If you want to do the testing at home that may be possible with the right equip. Just use the ward test as a guideline for what minerals to look for. That's probably pricey and I don't know how your science class skills are.

[BDawg]

+1 on Ward Labs as the starting point whether you do it or you let them do it for you.

[Ramitt]

Lamote has this brewlab kit http://www.lamotte.com/en/food-beverage/7188.html They list it at $99 w/o digital ph meter 169 w/ meter. Seems very expensive to only test total hardness calcium magnesium ph (only w/ meter) sulfate and chlorine.

[ajdelange]

The basic things you are after are alkalinity and hardness. These are easy to test and several manufacturers make kits for them including kits for the swimming pool and hobby aquarium markets. These are easy to find. The hardness test should distinguish between calcium hardness and magnesium hardness. This does not complicate things much but does add cost to the kit.

Hach has a line of kits including hardness kits that distinguish the two types and alkalinity kits. They are fairly expensive but do a hundred tests or so. If your water is quite variable then you need to test frequently - before each brew if it is bad enough - unless you go to RO or simply adjust the water to mash pH using acid for each brew. This is, of course, exactly what yoy do when you measure alkalinity with a kit (except that you stop at mash pH).

If you think you are going to do this reguarly and want more accurate ressults then consider the Hach Digital Titrator. One is illustrated in the last picture at http://wetnewf.org/pdfs/measuring-alkalinity.html (which article you might find interesting other wise as well). The titrator can also be used to measure chloride and the alaklinity/acidity of malts too.