"Northern,

Take a look at the following links. They have a lot of very good information. Although it's aimed at brewing, most, if not all of it is very useful in our hobby. Especially note the section on how to obtain, read and interpret a city water report.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter4.html
http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15.html

I use well water. But it's not a panacea -- it comes with it's own issues. Virtually all household well water in our area comes through an ion-exchange filtration system prior to reaching the tap. The good part is that the iron content removed. The bad part is we get no calcium and all of those ions that are removed are essentially replaced with sodium. I've used water directly from the ion-exchange filter and I've also used water that was passed through two additional carbon filter stages. The jury's still out as to the value of the additional carbon filtering.

In any case, the references above will offer some good suggestions as to how you can deal with your unique situation. If you decide to distill your water that's fine too. You can then ""build"" your water with whatever additions you like. I haven't tried anything like that yet since I haven't concluded that it's necessary (or worth the effort) for me to do so (read: I'm not experienced enough to realize if it would make a difference).

Regards,
--JB"

If you can make a good beer with your water, you should have no water related problems making a good distilled spirit with that same water. The chemistry doesn't change -- only it's application. There's plenty we can learn from the beer guys.

"If you ever get around to any all-grain recipes (rather than sugar washes/sugar heads) you'll basically be brewing beer. E.g. Barley, corn, oats, rye for whiskey/bourbon ... barley, wheat for vodka, etc. We just tend to use slightly different temperatures and don't use any hops. There are other differences ... but it's still mashing ... water, malt, adjuncts and additives. The lion's share of the water chemistry is for the enzymes and the yeast ... and they don't know if you're making whiskey or vodka or whatever. So some of those hard core beer brewers turned distiller have a leg up on many of us in this area.

In any case, anything you learn about brewing beer will serve you well once you get the itch to do an all grain. But definitely get a hold of a water report, that way you'll know what's in your water ... it'll take out some of the guess work ... and it has value even if you're not brewing/distilling.

Regards,
--JB"