Water Quality 101

In order to understand why the water in our homes could be corrosive, we have to understand two things first. TDS and PH

TDS means Total Dissolved Solids. High or lowTDS is measuring the amount of dissolved particles in water. High TDS water means the water is less aggressive and low TDS water means it’s more aggressive. The measurement seems backwards because low means more and high means less. When water has fewer dissolved solids, (less than 50 mg/L) it attempts to balance out by looking for solids around it. It just so happens that it can find solids in your pipes, water heater or whatever is available. Think about it as a measurement of hunger. Low means the water is starving - it hasn’t had enough to eat so it’s aggressively looking for something to fill it’s belly. High TDS water, (more than 500 mg/L) has had plenty to eat. As a human, having plenty to eat means you have plenty of energy to do stuff. That’s not a bad way to think about highTDS. Over 500 mg/L means your water has energy. That is expressed in the fact that it is able to better carry an electrical current. That is called your water's conductivity. That conductivity has the potential to dissolve away your pipes by carrying an electrical charge that corrodes galvanized steel.

So, high and low TDS can dissolve your pipes.

You’re looking for that sweet spot of a TDS greater than 50 but less than 500.

pH stands for “potential of Hydrogen” but in simpler terms, it's measuring how acidic water is. Again, the words we use to explain the measurement might seem backwards, because low means high acid and high means low acid. Same thing here. The lower the pH the hungrier the water is and It’s looking to eat. The sweet spot for pH is 7.

Bottom line? You have to know your water. Really know it. Regular titration tests seem to always get the hardness wrong. Give us a call and forego the expensive labs.