Measuring Water Quality

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

A TDS meter is not a toy. Live with 450 ppm TDS and watch your water heater, pump, fittings, and valves (shower head too) take a beating.

USA coin operated water jug dispenser. Found 230 PPM. Here, it is over 400 ppm, and you bet your sweet butt the water ruins stuff.

When I go to a new place I want facts not guesswork or gossip. A pen size TDS meter is worth it's weight in gold. If a 2-second test is too much work for some let them support the water supply repair parts industry.

Water sterility like I mentioned is another whole ball of wax. In descending order from large to small, amoeba, bacteria, virus.

Some dissolved solids are mean. Lead, Cadmium, lithium.

I use a TDS meter and a reverse osmosis unit to lower TDS levels, but I rely on my UV filter to protect against pathogens.

I did not try and scale sterile over "pure". And iron is one of the baddest components of all dissolved solids. Pnichols, you are aware of what you have, and that is the main point. The lab test IMHO is just good uncommon sense.

Sterilizing water is an art-form. The most thorough sterilization is not filtration even RO. Ozone treatment then sealed containment of ozonated water immediately after O3 treatment produces water that stays sterile for a year.

Reverse Osmosis has taken on buzzword status. RO processed water can range from darned near mineral free to 100 ppm. Pure water demands ultra fine filtration. ultra fine filtration demands special membrane RO components. It takes a lot of pressure to produce low TDS water. Ten times that of normal water pressure. A high pressure pump is used and membranes cost considerably more than undersink tinker toy grade RO membranes. A membrane that can withstand deterioration from the effects of sodium hypochorite is not a true high grade RO filter.

A TDS meter reveals the amount of minerals in water. Use a lab test to detect pathogens, carcinogens, and toxic pollution. Meeanwhile, tomorrow, I get to supervise the repair of a Kenmineralized washing machine (packed with deposits). Ever see an empty 130 pound 20 gallon electric water heater? That was in July. A communal water softener is in the planning stages.

But then again, for some, ignorance is bliss...

FWIW:

I just paid over $200 for a complete lab eval of our stick-house well water because of possible affects from the CA drought. The results showed it's water (less of it, however, due to the drought) was about the same chemical comp as it was 25 years ago.

It reads between 750 and 800 on my TDS meter and a pH of around 8.5. We've been using it in the house for cooking, clothes washing, and showers for years this way with no effect on our (copper) plumbing. We do not drink it. The iron in it never makes it to our house because the weekly manual chlorination I do within our 5000 gal storage tank is converting the iron into a chemical composition such that it settles out right there in the tank and doesn't even get to our home's parallel 1 micron whole-house filters. These filters (coconut shell carbon block) take out the chlorine taste/odor that would normally be present from the chlorine that I put in ahead of them down at the storage tank, so the disenfected water from the tank carries no free chlorine when we use it in the house.

Even though our well water has a whole bunch of minerals in it, it's only twice as heavy in TD solids as some city waters - many of which read 300-400 on TDS meters. Water disinfection is the important thing - not necessarily disolved solids content. Our well water actually feels very soft and pleasant for showering because of it's high TDS readings.

We recently added 10,000 more gallons of water storage into our system and will be paying for trucked-in water to fill them until the well output (hopefully) increases this winter.

Now back to fresh water purity as it relates to our RV ... we use this under-sink filter in the galley in addition to trying to never put water into the RV's fresh water tank that hasn't been disinfected:

http://www.discountfilterstore.com/water-filter-commercial-everpure-ev9592-06-adc.html?gclid=CMClvOfqh8ACFehaMgodFG0AEA

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:



Water sterility like I mentioned is another whole ball of wax. In descending order from large to small, amoeba, bacteria, virus.

Perhaps a different threadtitle than "Measuring Water Quality" would have been in order? To most of us, water quality means "is it safe to drink?". Effect on the hardware is a whole different can o'worms/question.

" Sterility is one aspect that is not mentioned here for obvious reasons (brevity)."

Well, so much for the first sentence disclaimer.

A TDS meter is not a toy. Live with 450 ppm TDS and watch your water heater, pump, fittings, and valves (shower head too) take a beating.

USA coin operated water jug dispenser. Found 230 PPM. Here, it is over 400 ppm, and you bet your sweet butt the water ruins stuff.

When I go to a new place I want facts not guesswork or gossip. A pen size TDS meter is worth it's weight in gold. If a 2-second test is too much work for some let them support the water supply repair parts industry.

Water sterility like I mentioned is another whole ball of wax. In descending order from large to small, amoeba, bacteria, virus.

Some dissolved solids are mean. Lead, Cadmium, lithium.

Here's a forum thread regarding RV fresh water quality that's closely related to this discussion:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27871401/gotomsg/27875217.cfm#27875217

Hmm, the people who are advising you that you should be aware of the amount of TDS in your water are also the ones selling filters and testers. Isn't that convenient!!

On the whole I'd be more concerned with bacterial and/or amoebic contamination.

Francesca Knowles wrote:
Interesting gizmo- but let's be clear that since it doesn't detect bacteria/viruses and other disease-causing contaminants, testing for dissolved solids will not tell you whether water is safe/sanitary to drink.

it's a handy toy, but I wouldn't trust it especially in some areas of the world.
bumpy

Interesting gizmo- but let's be clear that since it doesn't detect bacteria/viruses and other disease-causing contaminants, testing for dissolved solids will not tell you whether water is safe/sanitary to drink.