Total Dissolved Solids Essay

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Water is a good solvent and picks up impurities easily. Pure water -- tasteless, colourless, and odourless -- is often called the universal solvent. Dissolved solids" refer to any minerals, salts, metals, cations or anions dissolved in water. Total dissolved solids (TDS) comprise inorganic salts (principally calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulphates) and some small amounts of organic matter that are dissolved in water. TDS in drinking-water originate from natural sources, sewage, urban run-off, industrial wastewater, and chemicals used in the water treatment process, and the nature of the piping or hardware used to convey the water, i.e., the plumbing. In the United States, elevated TDS has been due to natural environmental features such as mineral springs, carbonate deposits, salt deposits, and sea water intrusion, but other sources may include: salts used for road de-icing, anti-skid materials, drinking water treatment chemicals, storm-water, and agricultural runoff, and point/non-point wastewater discharges. In general, the total dissolved solids concentration is the sum of the cations (positively charged) and anions (negatively charged) ions in the water. Therefore, the total dissolved solids test provides a qualitative measure of the …show more content…

In quantifying levels of these impurities, suspended solids are the term used to describe particles in the water column. Total suspended solids (TSS) are particles that are larger than 2 microns (0.0002 cm) found in the water column. Anything smaller than 2 microns (average filter size) is considered a dissolved solid. Total Suspended Solids (TSS) is solids in water that can be trapped by a filter. TSS can include a wide variety of material, such as silt, decaying plant and animal matter, industrial wastes, and sewage. High concentrations of suspended solids can cause many problems for stream health and aquatic

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