chlorinated water

ryan.hatley · Jul 19, 2016

I thought I had purchased water without chlorine from the grocery store for my mead, but it turns out that was not the case. Every guide I have and can find says not to use chlorinated water but they don't give a clear idea about what the consequences are if you do use it. Can someone give me an idea about what I can expect and if there is anything that can be done at this point?

Masbustelo · Jul 19, 2016

I use "city water" all the time and it is chlorinated. I've never had any kind of a problem.

bernardsmith · Jul 20, 2016

I think the basic idea is that chlorine is added to municipal water to kill bacteria and other pathogens. (compare the use of bleach as a sanitizer ) And yeast are single cell creatures that are likely to be inhibited if not killed by that same chemical. So that is the principle. But I bake bread and I use tap water when I proof my yeast and the yeast proves without problems.
To remove chlorine (chloramines are more problematic), all you need to do is simply pour the water you intend to use into a bucket and allow that bucket to stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Chlorine will evaporates off. To remove chloramines (they are designed not to evaporate off) simply add a campden tablet or equivalent amount of K-meta to every gallon of water and within 24 hours they will have neutralized the chlorine and the k-meta will have evaporated off. If you are anyway adding campden tabs to kill wild yeasts then you can happily use tap water. The stronger issue is whether your tap water tastes good enough to drink for pleasure. If you drink your tap water because it tastes good then you should feel confident about its use in your mead. If you avoid your tap water because it tastes metallic or tastes of chemicals then your tap water may not be the best source of water for your mead.

Squatchy · Jul 20, 2016

bernardsmith said:
I think the basic idea is that chlorine is added to municipal water to kill bacteria and other pathogens. (compare the use of bleach as a sanitizer ) And yeast are single cell creatures that are likely to be inhibited if not killed by that same chemical. So that is the principle. But I bake bread and I use tap water when I proof my yeast and the yeast proves without problems.
To remove chlorine (chloramines are more problematic), all you need to do is simply pour the water you intend to use into a bucket and allow that bucket to stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Chlorine will evaporates off. To remove chloramines (they are designed not to evaporate off) simply add a campden tablet or equivalent amount of K-meta to every gallon of water and within 24 hours they will have neutralized the chlorine and the k-meta will have evaporated off. If you are anyway adding campden tabs to kill wild yeasts then you can happily use tap water. The stronger issue is whether your tap water tastes good enough to drink for pleasure. If you drink your tap water because it tastes good then you should feel confident about its use in your mead. If you avoid your tap water because it tastes metallic or tastes of chemicals then your tap water may not be the best source of water for your mead.

I agree with bernard. The yeast manufactures make the yeast so I does fine in tap water. It's the flavors that are the main concern here.

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