Water Testing

January 19, 2020

When it comes to having clean drinking water, we don’t want to cut corners. Drinking healthy and clean water can be vital to having a healthy a body! If you are considering the results of water testing, it is extremely important to get the right testing and to read the performance data correctly. Here’s what we recommend when it comes to water testing.

What TDS Testing Can Indicate

You’ve probably heard of TDS testing, as it is fairly common. This is a type of water testing you can do at home. The letters TDS stand for Total Dissolved Solids. TDS meters or testers measure conductivity in your water to find the amount of TDS in it. Some TDS in your water is completely normal. There is no scientific proof that water containing below 2000 mg of TDS can affect your health at all.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "the presence of dissolved solids in water may affect its taste. The palatability of drinking water has been rated by panels of tasters in relation to its TDS level as follows: excellent, less than 300 mg/litre; good, between 300 and 600 mg/litre; fair, between 600 and 900 mg/litre; poor, between 900 and 1200 mg/litre; and unacceptable, greater than 1200 mg/litre. Water with extremely low concentrations of TDS may also be unacceptable because of its flat, insipid taste."

So to a certain degree, you can trust your taste buds as a preliminary testing "tool".

 

The Shortfall With TDS Testing

TDS tests can only detect the amount positively charged and negatively charged ions in your water. So while this test can tell you that there is TDS in your water, it can’t tell you what kind or how harmful it is. A TDS tester or meter also cannot detect uncharged compounds such as pesticide, gasoline or other harmful compounds that could still be in your water without you knowing it.

TDS testing may be a convenient and cheap way to test your water but it will unfortunately not be able to measure the actual safety your water.

 

Lab Testing Is Always Best

The truth is that water testing at home cannot be nearly as accurate as tests done at accredited labs. Only certain equipment found in labs are advanced enough to differentiate between the different kinds of ions found in your water and to detect harmful uncharged compounds.

Also, only in an accredited lab can you find people who are trained and qualified to run these tests, use the necessary equipment, and read the performance data correctly.

 

How To Ensure The Safety of Your Drinking Water

The surest way to make sure your water is safe for you and your family is to invest in an independently tested and certified water filter. If you are interested in investing in a water filter for the health of your family, check out our selection of WaterChef Filters. They are not only independently tested, but they are actually Gold Seal Certified by WQA (Water Quality Association).

 

Sources:

https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/tds.pdf
www.nsf.org
https://water-research.net/index.php/water-treatment/tools/total-dissolved-solids
https://tappwater.co/en/tds-tap-water-filter-quality/
https://www.hydroviv.com/blogs/water-smarts/tds-meters-and-testers

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