Welcome to the last installment of posts on the main ingredients for fermenting! While vegetables are a given, the other two key ingredients to fermenting are salt and water. And funny thing, it’s actually important what kind you use. Two previous posts (part 1 and part 2) cover all things salt, so that leaves us with water. What is the best water for fermentation? Let’s find out!
Water for fermentation
Even though fermentation does a lot of amazing things to your food, none of that will happen if you start out with inferior products, such as old or rotten vegetables. The same thing goes for salt and water. I’m assuming most people reading this won’t be going to a local muddy pond to extract their fermenting water. However, the water that comes out of your tap needs a closer look.
Tap in most of the U.S. is treated with various chemicals to kill off microbes in order to make it safe for drinking. While it’s great to not have mold, fungus or bacteria growing in your tap water, those same chemicals which kill all of the bad microbes will also kill any good ones that we are trying to grow and support in a ferment. Let’s look a bit at what chemicals are most often used in tap water.
Chlorine
First of all, consider chlorine. Why choose chlorine for sanitizing water around the world? Well, there are many benefits. It’s probably the lowest cost compared to similar products. While other avenues can be used to sanitize water, like ionization for example, they do not continue to sanitize and prevent “regrowth” in the time it takes to reach residential areas after leaving municipal water treatment sites.
Chlorine is extremely effective in killing off microorganisms, and in 1907, U.S. health officials started treating water with chlorine. This virtually irradicated death by waterborne illness (i.e. typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, Legionnare’s disease, etc.). Before enacting this plan, typhoid fever killed about as many people as car accidents do in the U.S.
Science of Chlorine
But how exactly does this chemical dispatch microorganisms? That is a good question, and one which is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. Many different theories have been offered based on research, which started in the 1940’s. The latest research has determined that chlorine somehow increases the permeability of the bacterial cells outer membrane, thus inducing cell death. For bacteria that do not have an outer membrane, it’s still uncertain how chlorine affects them, and in general, those microorganisms are more resistant to chlorine effects.
How does this affect our home ferments? In order to remain effective, a small amount of chlorine has to be viable in the water all the way to residential homes in order to keep microorganisms from growing along the journey. When considering what chlorine is supposed to do, it makes sense that utilizing chlorinated water is counterproductive in fermentation.
Fluoride
The next big hitter with tap water is fluoride. It is in virtually all drinking water in the U.S., and more research is coming out with alarming cautions on it’s safety and effectiveness. But that aside, let’s look at what it’s mechanisms of action are in regards to microorganisms. If we are putting fluoridated water in our ferments, we’d better make sure it doesn’t have antibacterial actions.
This article, while looking at possible benefits of fluoride, does discuss some of it’s pathways. One such pathway is it’s ability to increase the cell membranes proton permeability. At the same time, it decreases the cells proton export. The end result is a lowered ability to survive in high acid environments. While this may be beneficial when wanting an antibacterial agent, this is not what we want when fermenting. Ferments are naturally going to be highly acidic, and if cells are crippled with being unable to survive in an acid environment, we’ve shot our ferment in the foot, so to speak.
The Best Water For Fermentation
Ideally, the water you want to utilize for ferments is one that doesn’t have chemicals added. In addition, it should be clean. I know, stating the obvious. But we want to give our ferments as good a start as possible.
Well Water For Fermentation
Well water has worked splendidly for me in the past. It’s just pure water from the ground. Of course, they do need testing regularly to make sure they meet purification standards. Just double check that no chemicals or treatments are added if someone else/company is in charge of maintaining the well you use.
Water Filtration Systems For Fermentation
Water filtration systems are a great way to go if all you have available is tap water. Currently, I use a Berkey water system. Here is an excerpt from their website on how their filtration system works.
“The element’s filtration media is a combination of micro-pores, which trap harmful contaminants like bacteria, and revolutionary material with adsorption and ion exchange properties that essentially attract molecules and viruses to the media, preventing them from passing into your drinking water.”
Anecdotally, this seems to have worked well for us. Our ferments haven’t seen a negative effect and the drinking water tastes way better than tap. However, scientifically, this system hasn’t met water filtration standards. There are two big tests to pass:
NSF Standard 53 Certified
WQA Gold Seal Certified
The Berkey company has had their water tested by :
Envirotek Laboratories
Analytical Services
The County of Los Angeles Dept. of Agriculture
The issue a lot of companies have with Berkey is that they haven’t had testing done with a passing score for those two big tests/standards. While I respect that they haven’t met gold standards, at this point, I’m looking for something that will filter my water better than most filtration systems and also be cost effective. It is a bit of an initial investment, but the longer you use it, the cheaper your water per gallon will end up being. Many reviewers have had their filtration system for 8+ years with good results, leading to a $0.02 per gallon cost.
Purchasing Purified Water For Fermentation
The other alternative which many people have done, is buying purified, bottled water for ferments. This is definitely a viable option, just not my first choice personally due to all the issues surrounding plastics. However, in a pinch, I’ve used this with good results.
Conclusion
So let’s put this all together!
Water should be free of chemicals and additives
Options include:
Well water
A good quality filtration device
Bottled, purified water
Hopefully this post has been helpful in directing you to the best water for fermentation! See these other helpful posts discussing fermentation history, science and equipment.
Leave a Reply