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About Steve Young Expertise I will answer questions on residential water treatment, i.e. use of softeners, filters, reverse osmosis systems, disinfection, iron and/or sediment removal and other issues facing the homeowner. Experience I have worked in the water treatment area for many years as a consultant and as a professional environmental engineer in the private industry sector. I have designed reverse osmosis, deionization, and water softening systems. I have also done work in water quality and stream and river remediation as it relates to the Clean Water Act. Organizations I am currently serving as an Expert for Home Improvement, Travel (New Mexico) and Travel (North Carolina); Education/Credentials BS Environmental Eng. |
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You are here: Experts > Industry > Water Quality > Water Quality > High TDS/ Low Hardness Water Quality - High TDS/ Low HardnessExpert: Steve Young - 11/5/2008 Question Hi Steve, Recently my neighborhood was put on a different water well. The old well it at the 500ft level, the new one at 1600ft. While we are awaiting a full lab generated water report, I am confused at some initial readings that I made using a Hanna Ph/TDS meter along with a chemical hardness test done locally. Our water has a high PH of 8.2, TDS is very high, in the 1000 ppm range...yet the water is on the soft side with a hardness reading less than 20gr/g. I always thought TDS was directly proportional to the harness..High TDS..High hardness Obviously there are different types of TDS..The TDS I am reading relates to the conductivity of the water..What gives? Carbonate vs non-Carbonate?? Can you explain, for I am thoroughly confused....I did calibrate the meter with the correct solutions... Thanks Tom Answer Hi Tom, The TDS is the total dissolved solids and is literally a measure of everything that is dissolved in the water. A portion of the minerals that are dissolved in water are Calcium and Magnesium (the ions that make up water hardness). Here is a really good explanation of TDS: http://www.wqpmag.com/Water-Testing-101-TDS-article8837 Secondly, the hardness reading of 20gr/g is actually very hard water. 20gr/g is actually equal to 340ppm. Soft water is generally considered to be water that has a hardness level less than 20ppm. Anything over 120ppm is considered very hard water. See explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water So, generally the higher the TDS the higher the total hardness but that is not always true. Many times a high sodium concentration in the water will yield a high TDS but the water will have a low hardness concentration because sodium does not add hardness to the water. I hope this answers your questions and didn't just confuse you more. Let me know if I can help out in any other ways. Take care, Steve Hi Tom, Thanks for the ratings. And yes, I do have a question. I have been seriously thinking about getting my pilots license. Can you give me a ballpark number on how much this would cost and about how long it would take. I know there are different levels, i.e. vfr and ifr (or something like that) but if you could give me a ballpark figure I would really appreciate it. And you can send it to: SAYoungWS@gmail.com. Thanks for the offer Tom! Add to this Answer Ask a Question | |