The following are reasons why it is helpful to constantly test for TDS:

Tri Meter

Tri Meter

New Member
1. Taste/Health High TDS results in undesirable taste which could be salty, bitter, or metallic. It could also indicate the presence of toxic minerals. The EPA's rescommended maximum of TDS in water is 500mg/L (500ppm).
2. Filter performance Test your water to make sure the filter system has a high rejection rate and know when to change your fiter(or membrane) cartridges.
3. Hardness High TDS indicates Hard water, which causes scale buildup in pipes and valves, inhibiting performance.
4. Aquaculture A constant level of minerals is necessary for aquatic life. The water in an aquarium should have the same levels of TDS and pH as the fish and reef's original habitat.
5. Hydroponics TDS is the best measurement of the nutrient concentration in a hydroponic solution.
6. Pools and Spas TDS levels must be monitored to prevent maintenance problems.
7. Commercial/Industrial High TDS levels could impede the functions of certain applications.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
and number 8 - if you don't check PPM/EC/TDS - you're plants will die!

good post tri meter - welcome to the site!
 
nongreenthumb

nongreenthumb

Well-Known Member
Tri Meter said:
1. Taste/Health High TDS results in undesirable taste which could be salty, bitter, or metallic. It could also indicate the presence of toxic minerals. The EPA's rescommended maximum of TDS in water is 500mg/L (500ppm).
2. Filter performance Test your water to make sure the filter system has a high rejection rate and know when to change your fiter(or membrane) cartridges.
3. Hardness High TDS indicates Hard water, which causes scale buildup in pipes and valves, inhibiting performance.
4. Aquaculture A constant level of minerals is necessary for aquatic life. The water in an aquarium should have the same levels of TDS and pH as the fish and reef's original habitat.
5. Hydroponics TDS is the best measurement of the nutrient concentration in a hydroponic solution.
6. Pools and Spas TDS levels must be monitored to prevent maintenance problems.
7. Commercial/Industrial High TDS levels could impede the functions of certain applications.
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It's just a shame that this information is a little false, Total dissolved solids are not the best measurement of any solution, electrical conductivity is.

Take it easy though,
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
nongreenthumb said:
It's just a shame that this information is a little false, Total dissolved solids are not the best measurement of any solution, electrical conductivity is.

Take it easy though,
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Luckily most quality PPM instruments do both (they actually are EC meters that do the conversion for us). EC/PPM measures TDS so i think parent is right in that measuring TDS is important whether you use PPM or EC to do it.
 
nongreenthumb

nongreenthumb

Well-Known Member
email468 said:
Luckily most quality PPM instruments do both (they actually are EC meters that do the conversion for us). EC/PPM measures TDS so i think parent is right in that measuring TDS is important whether you use PPM or EC to do it.
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The biggest problem with TDS is that it is pretty much the same thing as ppm.

EC means electrical conductivity, it sends out a pulse into the water, and then measures how much comes back. This scale is set.

With ppm/tds it all depends on what meter you use as to what the ppm/tds will read,

Some meters multiply the ec by 500 some by 640 and some by 700, so tds and ppm are pretty shitty scales to use, i agree that all the truncheons do both, and even some of the digital meters do the multiple tests, but the only test to really go by is ec, otherwise how do you tell someone what strength nutrient to use, you say give them 600 ppm and they have a different meter to you, they could under or over feed their plants.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
nongreenthumb said:
The biggest problem with TDS is that it is pretty much the same thing as ppm.

EC means electrical conductivity, it sends out a pulse into the water, and then measures how much comes back. This scale is set.

With ppm/tds it all depends on what meter you use as to what the ppm/tds will read,

Some meters multiply the ec by 500 some by 640 and some by 700, so tds and ppm are pretty shitty scales to use, i agree that all the truncheons do both, and even some of the digital meters do the multiple tests, but the only test to really go by is ec, otherwise how do you tell someone what strength nutrient to use, you say give them 600 ppm and they have a different meter to you, they could under or over feed their plants.
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Thank you for the info and education NGT! It never occurred to me that the meters calculations would be off.
 
P

Puffin Afatty

Active Member
I test every day...keep the ppm at 900 and the ph at 5.6-5.8...Snow White loves it and so do I...I only use rod water in the res now and havent had to add ph up or down in 4 generations...also I dont bother to change out the res, just add rod water and/or nutes at the prescribed ratio to bring ppm to 900 and ph to 5.6-5.8...

I love my Hanna 98130...
 
weediscool

weediscool

Well-Known Member
so my new ph meter came today. my ph has been 7.7 the last week. lame.

sooooooooo.. the instructions say that i should use some storage solution after every use in the cap. yet the meter didnt come with anything but packets of non reusable once opened phed water. and the place i got the meter from online didnt have any for sale either.

is it really nescessary to use this storage solution after every use, and if so does anyone know where i can get a jug of it or something.
 
S

shenagen

Well-Known Member
I got a meter that didn't say it needed to be strored in a solution, just so it was one less thing to worry about.
 
potroast

potroast

Uses the Rollitup profile
Yes, the cap is waterproof so you can put a few drops in there to keep the probe moist. The gel-filled glass cylinder can dry out, and you will need to soak it for an hour and then calibrate before you can use it. So just use some 7.0 calibration solution in the cap instead.


HTH :mrgreen:
 
dalgoda

dalgoda

Well-Known Member
just thinking..
Ppm is a measurement for TDS right and ec measures the resistance based on TDS in the water.
the debate seems to be redundant.
and total dissolved solids is not a measurement but more of a variable of the total of all dissolved solids.
so getting back to the post at hand.
thank you for the post
yes total dissolved solids is an important thing
no matter if you measure it by PPM or by EC resistance
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dalgoda said:
just thinking..
Ppm is a measurement for TDS right and ec measures the resistance based on TDS in the water.
the debate seems to be redundant.
and total dissolved solids is not a measurement but more of a variable of the total of all dissolved solids.
so getting back to the post at hand.
thank you for the post
yes total dissolved solids is an important thing
no matter if you measure it by PPM or by EC resistance
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What you say is true and I think you'll find nothing we said disagrees with what you are saying. What we were talking about was the accuracy of how TDS is measured with EC being the most accurate. And depending on how the meter converts EC to PPM you may wind up with different TDS readings.

I think the problem is moot if you use the same meter and keep it calibrated. I would only see this as a problem if someone was "babysitting" your plants and brought their own meter that didn't calculate PPM the same as yours.

I would also add that unless you are using lab-quality equipment - the PPM/EC reading is not going to be that accurate anyway +/- 50 PPM would be my guess for most meters. Which is close enough for me (and i'm guessing most other growers too).
 
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