1. What is TDS?
TDS is the abbreviation of "Total dissolved solids", which translates to "Total dissolved solids", the total amount of solids dissolved in the water. If you have used a home water purifier or experienced a water purifier in a physical store, I believe you will not be unfamiliar with the TDS meter. With the help of the TDS test pen, it is possible to determine the local water quality (salinity) very visually. The general tap water TDS value will be around one hundred, a few hundred is also more common. And after the tap water filtered by the water purifier, the TDS value will generally drop to below 50.
2. How to measure TDS?
TDS is mainly measured by the TDS pen, first open the TDS meter probe cover, press the button marked ON/ OF, to be displayed on the LCD screen, the TDS meter into the water being measured, to be stable values, press the button marked HOLD, take out the TDS pen to read the value can be, after the test is completed, wipe the TDS pen probe clean with dry paper.
3. Why should we measure TDS?
TDS can affect your water quality, health, home plumbing system, and even daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning. By measuring the amount of TDS in your water, you can better understand water quality and its impact on your daily life, so you can make informed decisions to address water quality issues and install the most effective filtration system for your home.
Tap water with high total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations may produce a bitter taste and unpleasant odor. While levels below 1,000 ppm are not harmful to health, cooking with high TDS water can alter the taste of food. For example, if you have high chlorine levels in your water, you may find that pasta absorbs an unpleasant taste from boiling water. Activated carbon cartridges are an effective option for removing chlorine from water.
4. Factors affecting the TDS value test
Water temperature: TDS pen can not be used to measure high temperature water bodies (for example: hot boiling water)
Water flow rate: TDS pen can not be used to measure the swaying larger bodies of water
Water pollution: TDS pen can not be used to measure the pollution concentration of higher water bodies
5. The lower the TDS value of water, the better the water quality?
The value measured by the TDS test pen is the total amount of the 3 solids in the water, the higher the TDS value, the more dissolved substances in the water. The principle of the TDS pen is to measure the conductivity of the water to convert the TDS value of the water.In layman's terms, the higher the TDS value, the more impurities contained in the water, which impurities usually refers to the concentration of Ca2, Mg2, Na, K and other ions in the water.
Some TDS value is high, reaching 500 or even more than 1000, which indicates that the original water quality pollution is serious, it is recommended in the use of more than three levels of RO reverse osmosis water purification machine.But the groundwater flowing through a large area of limestone, was extracted as tap water, the water contains high calcium and magnesium, TDS value is also higher, which indicates that the water quality is only high hardness, is not necessarily contaminated.
The lower the TDS is not the same as the better the water quality. The World Health Organization issued direct drinking water standards, TDS value less than 50; the European Union less than 70; the United States less than 50. water quality depends on its water quality indicators, good drinking water quality should meet the corresponding national water quality standards.
TDS is only one of the many water quality indicators, qualified drinking water must meet the microbiological indicators (bacterial count), toxicological indicators (heavy metal ion concentration), sensory properties ( Color, smell, taste, visible to the naked eye) and general chemical indicators and radioactive indicators. Healthy and clean drinking water must not contain pathogenic microorganisms, chemical substances in the water, radioactive substances shall not endanger human health, good sensory properties.
Drinking water, the size of the TDS can not reflect the size of the concentration of harmful heavy metal ions in the water, as for how much bacteria in the water, the concentration of organic matter is high, whether the concentration of nitrite exceeds the standard, there is no pesticide residues these can not be reflected by the size of the TDS. Even if the water bacteria, heavy metal ion concentration exceeds the standard, as long as the concentration of dissolved Ca2, Mg2, Na, K and other ions in the water is reduced, the TDS value will also become smaller. It is recommended to use reverse osmosis system to filter heavy metals.
6. How to reduce the TDS in water?
A reverse osmosis (RO) system is one of the most comprehensive filters to remove contaminants. It uses pressure to push unfiltered water through a semi-permeable membrane. Small pores in the membrane block contaminants (such as all dissolved solids), but allow clean water to flow to the other side.
Learn more: What is a reverse osmosis system and how does it work? | What is RO machine?
