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Recently my brother-in-law had a reverse osmosis system installed for their drinking water. The installer left him a water quality meter which is a digital TDS meter that measures the Total Dissolved Solids in the water. What this means is that it measures the total amount of substances in the water other than the pure H2O. He joked that this was the first time ever that he had a gadget that I didn’t… so to keep with my reputation, that night I ordered my very own TDS Meter. Today, the unit arrived and I checked our water quality… it’s 34.0 — which is good! My sisters water through reverse osmosis is 0.06 (really, really, good!) and their normal water was at 60. The ideal drinking water range is 0-50. I do have a simple water filter installed but when testing the water non-filtered I didn’t notice much difference (maybe it’s time to get a new one?). I highly recommend you check your water quality since the EPA Secondary Regulations advise a maximum contamination level (MCL) of 500mg/liter (500 parts per million (ppm)) for TDS… that’s really high if recommended drinking water is 0-50.
“A high level of TDS is an indicator of potential concerns, and warrants further investigation… most often, high levels of TDS are caused by the presence of potassium, chlorides and sodium. These ions have little or no short-term effects, but toxic ions (lead arsenic, cadmium, nitrate and others) may also be dissolved in the water. “
So if there is a problem with your water supply you can get to it before it gets you… the unit I bought is the HM COM-100
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View Comments (8)
If you can't afford your own meter, and you are on a municipal or community water source (i.e. you don't rely on your own well) You can look at your system's CCR (Consumer Confidence Report) which will give you an overview of water quality for the past year and let you know if any tests were over an EPA maximum contaminate level for things like heavy metals, bacteriological contamination, radionuclides ect. Most cities will have theirs posted on their website.
Of course, the only way to know the quality of the water coming specifically out of your tap is to test the water out of your tap. However bacteriological contamination, Volatile Organic Compunds and harmful byproducts from chlorination disinfection (trihalomethanes and haloacetic acid) won't affect TDS or EC readings. But those should be on a CCR if they are present in the water supply.
If you can't afford your own meter, and you are on a municipal or community water source (i.e. you don't rely on your own well) You can look at your system's CCR (Consumer Confidence Report) which will give you an overview of water quality for the past year and let you know if any tests were over an EPA maximum contaminate level for things like heavy metals, bacteriological contamination, radionuclides ect. Most cities will have theirs posted on their website.
Of course, the only way to know the quality of the water coming specifically out of your tap is to test the water out of your tap. However bacteriological contamination, Volatile Organic Compunds and harmful byproducts from chlorination disinfection (trihalomethanes and haloacetic acid) won't affect TDS or EC readings. But those should be on a CCR if they are present in the water supply.
Water nerds!
Water nerds!
Would it make sense to pay $47.49 + $7.99 shipping from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/COM100-WATERPROOF-TEMP-COMBO-METER/dp/B000VVVEUI/ref=pd_sim_k_title_1)? The same company also makes a Ph tester.
Would it make sense to pay $47.49 + $7.99 shipping from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/COM100-WATERPROOF-TEMP-COMBO-METER/dp/B000VVVEUI/ref=pd_sim_k_title_1)? The same company also makes a Ph tester.
Mark,
Looks like that one is the same... yes, they also make a Ph tester... thinking about getting that one too!
Danny
Mark,
Looks like that one is the same... yes, they also make a Ph tester... thinking about getting that one too!
Danny