Water Analysis for Dallas County

[danwbrews]

Has anyone found a report that contains the mineral content of Dallas county drinking water? The WQR that we receive every year only contains the contaminants, Sodium (36avg 12-54), Total Hardness (119avg 92-167) and Total Alkalinity(68avg 28-120). I have found from other sources the following, but would like to fill in the blanks:
Mg 5.14
Ca 35.20
Na 33.80
K 4.18
Carbonate ? ( is this the Total Alkalinity?)
Sulfate ?
Chloride ?
Any help would be appreciated. I've had very little chemistry but would like to adjust my water, as much as possible, for better results.
Thanks,

[Haney]

You can contact the Dallas Water Utility and they will send you a full report. I have it at the lake house, but won't be down there for a while.

[Haney]

That's only for Dallas City water, if you live outside of Dallas chances are you get your water from a different source. Fred David has the report for Plano where the water just barely flows it's so hard!

[danwbrews]

I've already tried the Dallas Water Utilities... they sent me the same report "Water Quality Report" that you get on-line. It's as useless as tits on a boar.
Thanks for the responce.

[Mike Grover]

Dan -

If you really want to go crazy, there is an agricultural lab in Kearney, NE that does fairly inexpensive water analyses. They have a "household minerals" analysis that is $16.50 and includes all of the important ions for brewing. It is called Ward Laboratories and can be found at www.wardlab.com. They've been recommended several times on the AHA techtalk forum.

Cheers!

[danwbrews]

Thanks Mike,
I've checked the web site and compared the pricing with some other more local labs, they seem to offer the most comprehensive analysis(for brewing) and the best prices of any that I could find. I just wish that Dallas would give a better analysis like so many other cities. It will be good to be able to double check the info I all ready found.... there is no telling how old some of it is.
Dan

[big tex]

Dan,

I use Ward Laboratories and really like the results. Just go onto their website and request a couple of sample bottles, fill one up and send it back. They take about a week to do the analysis and mail the results back to you. They even bill you after the fact!

Also, I noticed that the water analysis from the city didn't match match up very close to what Ward provided. I suspect that the analysis the city does is averaged across many locations and water sources. From Ward, you know what the analysis is coming out of your faucet.

Cheers,
Gary

[BigWally]

Where do you live? I have the water report from Carrollton, which is the water that comes from the Trinity, through the Dallas Water Utility plant on Keller Springs in Carrollton.

Sometimes you have to talk to them and tell them what you are doing and what information you are looking for. If the person you are talking to is not too much of a government employee, they will send you the right information.

[danwbrews]

Thanks for the info,
I live in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas. I'll try to call maybe I'll get lucky. Do you still have the Phone number? I have a report that has several. The 214/670-0917 looks most promising.
Dan

[BigWally]

I called the Carrollton water department. It help if you explain what you need the information for and if that person isn't "too busy" to help.

[ldavis cityofcarr]

We here at the city of Carrollton are never too busy to answer your question in regards to the mineral analysis reports. The reports are provided to us by DWU (Dallas Water Utilities) and we too have a hard time obtaining the reports (they come from the Elm Fork Lab). Feel free to contact us here at the Water department and get on the mailing list for updates. We will do our best to serve you in a timely manner.

[donniestyle]

Jimmy O posted his results for Carrolton, and they were near perfect for a decent attempt at a Bohemian Pils. The mineral content was much lower than Plano. He sent the tap water and RO water for analysis. I think they were posted.

[Jimmy Orkin]

I have not posted the lab results but I will when I get home tonight.

[Jimmy Orkin]

Attached is the report from the water analysis I had done. The Carrollton City water is from the kitchen tap at my house. The RO water is the Culligan machine at the Walmart on 190 and Old Denton.

[Fred David]

Most towns in the north central/eastern part of Dallas (Garland, Richardson, Plano, etc) get their water from Lake Lavon. This is mananged by the North Texas Municipal Water District. You can get monthly water reports from them at: http://www.ntmwd.com/WaterQuality.html.