What are Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)?
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in water are some organic and inorganic materials, which include minerals and ions that are dissolved in a particular quantity in water. During transportation, water passes through different surfaces. At such times, water absorbs many materials. For example, TDS in water can come from different sources such as minerals in chemicals used for treating water, runoff from the road salts, and chemicals or fertilizers from the farms. Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, and Potassium cations, as well as Carbonate, Hydrogen Carbonate, Chloride, Sulfate, and Nitrate anions, are commonly the most prominent constituents.
Why Do you Need to Measure Total Dissolved Solids?
TDS gives you an idea as to how to make the water potable. Here are some reasons you need to measure TDS in water.
- Taste: The higher the TDS, the saltier your water tends to be.
- Health Purposes: Even though higher TDS does not impact water quality, care needs to be taken to ensure that certain hazardous toxic chemicals like Lead are not present as these are toxic and can lead to health hazards.
- Filter Health: Regular check on TDS levels can help in ensuring that your filters health is maintained to give optimum output.
- Cooking: Higher TDS can alter the taste of cooked food.
- Scaling inside pipes and tanks: Plumbing lines and storage tanks can get affected by high TDS. High amounts of dissolved calcium and magnesium salts can cause scale to form in these locations. Further, this scalation reduces the life of these equipments.
TDS Levels for Drinking Water Analysis
Many are confused about the impact of TDS levels on potability of their water. Find below a simple list that can give you an idea about TDS Level in parts per million(ppm) & Potability Quotient (Ref Source)
| TDS level in ppm | Potability quotient |
| Less than 300 | Excellent |
| 300-600 | Good |
| 600-900 | Fair |
| 900-1200 | Poor |
| Above 1200 | Unacceptable |
How do we measure TDS?
The TDS level in water can be determined with the help of a TDS meter. A TDS test helps determine the total amount of dissolved solids present in water. However, it doesn’t identify any individual compounds or the sources. Hence, if you are in doubt, it is always beneficial to conduct some additional tests to determine the contaminants present in water. Doulton Water filters are designed for water with TDS levels less than 500. So, if you get water with TDS less than 500, Doulton can give you mineral rich, clean drinking water at the rate of Rs 0.3 per litre, which is economical than any other source of drinking water in the market.
Finally, to know if you can use a Doulton Water filter, take this test.
