TDS readings

[Samw]

What TDS levels are you all getting from tap water? I'm getting 8 ppm from my tap water and 0 ppm after going through the RO. Wondering if this is accurate or if I need to calibrate my meter.

[stephane]

88 before 0-1 after. It will vary from town to town

But I would very surprise any town could have water as low as 8 ppm

[EmilyB]

I thought the thing had a decimal point in the reading, but that must have been a spec on my glasses... :D

Mines 171 out of the tap today. Yucky hard water. :(

[StirCrazy]

I get 17ppm befor and 0 after.. in the spring my TDS goes as high as 20ppm so you could have 8 ppm but I would get some one else to test it to be sure.

Steve

[canadawest]

Sam, I get 14ppm out of my tap, 1 ppm exiting my RO and 0 ppm after my DI.

[Samw]

Originally posted by stephane:
88 before 0-1 after. It will vary from town to town

But I would very surprise any town could have water as low as 8 ppm<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks Stephane. Yes, it will vary from town to town. I actually forgot to mention that I was originally interested to hear what people in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland were getting. Although it would be also interesting to see what other cities got.

Thanks all. Canadawest, yes, I remember you said something in the 10's before but couldn't find the reference now. I saw on Usenet that Reefburnaby was getting 14 also.

[ 04 October 2002, 00:01: Message edited by: Sam W ]

[Harald]

What's TDS?

[Aquattro]

Originally posted by Harald:
What's TDS?<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Total Dissolved Solids

[Samw]

Originally posted by Harald:
What's TDS?<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Total Dissolved Solids

'"Dissolved solids" refer to any minerals, salts, metals, cations or anions dissolved in water. This includes anything present in water other than the pure water (H20) molecule and suspended solids. Suspended solids are any particles/substances that are neither dissolved nor settled in the water, such as wood pulp.'

Darn. I just recalibrated twice with 800 ppm calibration fluid, adjusting for current temperature, and I'm now getting a TDS reading of 2 for tap water.

[ 03 October 2002, 23:01: Message edited by: Sam W ]

[Aquattro]

OK, so I could have elaborated a bit tongue.gif

[Reef_Ready]

Okay Brad, we'll give you a second chance :D ... TDS is measured with what? Test kit, electonic instrument???? What?

[Aquattro]

ALright! The easy way is to use an electronic TDS meter. Or, a well mixed sample is filtered through a standard glass fiber filter, and the filtrate is evaporated to dryness in a weighed dish and dried to a constant weight at 180 degrees C. The increase in dish weight represents the total dissolved solids. The meter might be easier. The latter method is taken from "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water, 20th ed."

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

IMHO, TDS is not the only thing that tells you if you water is clean or not. It only measures a subclass of stuff that could be in your water. There are some chemicals and materials that the TDS does not account for (say chlorine and bicarbonates). Just keep that in mind when you are measuring the TDS value.

- Victor.

[StirCrazy]

Originally posted by Reef_Raf:
ALright! The easy way is to use an electronic TDS meter. Or, a well mixed sample is filtered through a standard glass fiber filter, and the filtrate is evaporated to dryness in a weighed dish and dried to a constant weight at 180 degrees C. The increase in dish weight represents the total dissolved solids. The meter might be easier. The latter method is taken from "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water, 20th ed."<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">you need another hobby :D : D

Steve