First stupid question.

[fatbloke]

If you have drinkable water use it. You can look up your local water authority and get a report into the water online.

Drinking water is generally better than distilled & reverse osmosis (RO) because of the trace elements and minerals in it.

The one thing that we do not want however is chlorine. So either let it stand overnight before using - leave it in a glass jar in the sun for one hour - boil & cool, before use or filter it.

If your water is rock hard (mine is) simmer for 20 minutes and rack the next day. You will be amazed at the amount of temporary hardness that sets like sand on the bottom of your boiler

If you want to test it yourself (i do) buy some of the 8 in 1 test kits fish keepers use - eBay.

Finally fermentation is a natural sterilisation process.

The thing is, is that all tap water will have chlorine in it, as will "softened" water (hard water is routinely softened with sodium chloride a.k.a. salt, to counteract calcium hardness a.k.a. chalk).

Reverse osmosis water isn't quite as "clean" as distilled water (depends on how good the filter membrane is), but it's better than most tap water.

The debate has gone on for ages, about how the water has "minerals" in it and how the yeast need that. With Grape wines (proper grapes, not concentrate or juice), pretty much all the nutritional needs would be met from the fruit. With beer worts, they also routinely treat the water in many areas as the calcium hardness can/will affect the taste - this carries through to wines from juice (unless it's 100% juice - very rare) or concentrates.

Generally these have nutrient/energiser packs with them, so it should be considered that while it's not wrong per se, to use tap water, unless you know your water comes from sources where the geology is igneous rock and not sandstone or chalk, then RO or even distilled water would seem better.

I certainly try to stick to RO (cheaper to buy at £3 per 25 litres, than distilling my own water - the leccy probably costs more than that).......

Ergo it's up to the maker. If they know the situation, then they can make their own mind up as to which type is best.

p.s. Oh and I'm pretty convinced that if the water element that's removed from juice to make concentrate was tested, you'd find it to be the same as distilled water i.e. very pure.......

And the best analogy for how much could be in the water Brian ? is just look at the bottom of the kettle you use to make tea...........

[Blizzard Green]

Some very interesting comments, but first, am I correct in keeping it airtight while it clears.?

[Blizzard Green]

I am not familiar with RO water, will go to google.

My distiller, I believe, is 750w and does roughly one litre per hour, so after the initial purchase, the end product is pretty cheep.

You should see the crap left in it after distilling just 4 litres of tap water. Also I have been lead to believe that chlorine evaporates at a lower

temp than water, so you may not get rid of it.

I take water from the well and distil it which should leave me with a pretty pure end product.

[Cellar_Rat]

Is your distiller the one with the fan on top?

Chlorine - You can definitely get rid of a large 90-95% percentage of it. Although there is several types of chlorine. Some are more 'sticky' than others. Really is worth going back to your water authority and getting their report.

You state you are distilling well water - is this groundwater or surface water? You perhaps should be also testing for pesticide residue.

Distilling well water, I would expect to see more kak. I think I am very lucky with my local water quality, when I have distilled tap water - there is a taste difference - obviously, but no kak. Is your well water drinkable?

Still not convinced you need PURE water.

On a similar issue there is a cracking link on drilling your own borehole - which is surprisingly easy. If anybody is interested please shout up and I will dig out the link

[Blizzard Green]

Top left on this page is the one I use.

http://www.megahome.com.tw/en/product-2.html

The well is 7m deep and lined, so I expect it's ground water. I had the local authority test it last year, no nasties reported. I have drunk it with no ill effects.

I am not convinced I need pure water either, but I have it so I used it.

I would like the link about boring a well just out of interest.

[Cellar_Rat]

That makes sense.

This is something I plan to try http://www.drillyourownwell.com/

[NorthernWiner]

Does it need sealed up airtight again. The instructions don't say.

Yes. Once fermentation is finished, air is wine's worst enemy. Make sure that you keep it in a container with very little head space at the top. I'd also keep it under airlock, otherwise you risk having a bung/stopper forcibly ejected while it de-gasses. Might even put an eye out.