Some Tortilla Factories treat their water with a water softener to get more consistent and superior quality tortillas in areas where water hardness and high pH are problems. Monitoring water quality, especially if you are treating the water, should be part of the QC program. Water hardness can be easily measured with conductivity or total dissolved solids (TDS) meters. The pH of water is also fairly simple to measure with a pH meter. These measurements should be recorded regularly in the laboratory notebook. This record will give you guidance as to whether water pH or hardness is negatively affecting your tortilla quality. Generally accepted guidelines for water hardness are in the following table.
Table 3: Classification of Water Hardness [1]
|
Hardness
|
Classification
|
|
0 – 15 ppm*
|
Very Soft
|
|
15 – 50 ppm*
|
Soft Water
|
|
50 – 100 ppm*
|
Medium Hard Water
|
|
100 – 200 ppm*
|
Hard Water
|
|
> 200 ppm*
|
Very Hard Water
|
*ppm equals parts per million, which for water hardness is milligrams of calcium carbonate equivalents per kilogram of water.
[1] Pyler, E.J., Baking Science Technology. 3rd. ed. Vol. 1. 1988, Kansas City: Sosland Publishing.
(C) 2011
