My sourdough starter finally took off when I switched from tap to bottled water

I kept my starter in a jar on the counter and fed it every day for a week with our city tap water, but it just stayed flat and sad. Last Monday, I bought a gallon of spring water from the store and used that instead. Within two days, it doubled in size and got those nice bubbles. I'm convinced our local water has something in it that was holding it back. Has anyone else had a starter that only worked with filtered or bottled water?

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.noah1mo ago

Interesting. It might not just be chlorine. Some places add chloramine, which doesn't evaporate off like chlorine does. That stuff sticks around and can really mess with the yeast. A simple filter won't always take it out either.

miles_sanchez1mo agoMost Upvoted

Did your tap water smell like a pool when you first turned it on?

rubyschmidt1mo ago

My starter was totally dead until I switched to filtered water from the fridge. The chlorine in our tap water just kills the good stuff. Now I keep a jug in the fridge just for baking and it made a huge difference. It's kind of a pain but it's the only thing that works for me.