I swore by tap water for ferments, but a dead scoby proved me wrong.

Now I always use filtered water or let tap water sit to protect my ferments.

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_brown5029d agoTop Commenter

Yeah, a friend of mine lost three batches in a row and couldn't figure out why her kombucha was just dying. Turns out her town had upped the chlorine in the water that summer. She started buying the cheap gallon jugs of spring water from the store, and it fixed everything overnight. Makes you wonder what's actually in the pipes, right? She doesn't take chances anymore either.

alice_wright3629d ago

My tap water's way too hard for my scoby, had the same issue. Switched to a basic filter pitcher and it perked right back up. @xena_brown50, did your friend ever test her water after that?

the_piper29d ago

Seriously, that's so frustrating when your ferments fail because of something like water. I lost a few scobys myself before I figured out my tap water was the problem. @xena_brown50's story about her friend really hits home, it's scary how much the water can change without warning. Now I always use filtered water too, it just isn't worth the risk. You put all that time into a ferment only to have it die from chlorine or something in the pipes.