At the Water-Research.net - we get about 500 to 1500 unique visitors per day, but very few emails. In most cases, private well owners find the information they need for free.
Well Today I Received the following:
"I recently had my water tested at the house. the tap had 144 ppm of TDS or total dissolved solids. It had 30 dps of soap. I am not sure what TDS encompasses, but I was told that the drinking water was very contaminated. we could not afford the whole house water filtration system just now, so we put a PUR water filter on the tap for our drinking water. Will this keep us safe and what does TDS encompass? Thanks for your help. "
Signed J
My response
Hi J,
I do not think you were given the correct information
Drinking water standard for Total dissolved solids is 500 ppm - it should be less than this level - you are. This is not a red flag.
30 drops of soap - this is moderately hard water - hardness between 60 and 120 mg/L. This is not a red flag
If your water creates red, black, or dark stains - this is a potential red flag.
If you water leaves a blue green stain - this is a potential red flag.
But where is the rest of the data - Based on the information provide - "I would not tell you have a water quality problem - or a water quality problem were the words "very contaminated" would apply." (Oram, B. 2012)
If you might want to find out what the actual quality of the water is I would recommend ordering a water testing kit - mail order -
If you can afford - Kit 9000 Water Check 1 & 2
When you get the results - I will evaluate for free.
If you have any questions - do NOT hesitate to ask and good luck.
PS: The pure water filter is a carbon block filter - it was not designed to control hardness, but it will likely improved the quality of the water slightly.
Thanks
Brian Oram
Followup email
ReplyDeleteBrian
Thanks for your recommendation. i have had so much to spend $$ on lately, that I am trying to understand this report. Inspector wrote very contaminated, so from these tests, I wondered if most of it was from TDS- and if so, what does that encompass? I read the material that "PUR" water filter puts out on their website and it seems to filter out a lot of things. Our 2nd tester came a couple weeks ago and he claimed "PUR" only filters out germs! Hard to know what to believe. i know we drink only bottled water that says "reverse osmosis" on the bottle. We liked the "PUR" as it is not as costly as the bottled water, until we can afford a whole house system which we were told would cost anywhere from $3500- $6500 for our house. First tester said $6500, and 2nd said $3500, but we could just get the drinking water filter for $1500 and forget the softener part. i know Florida water is not the best overall. We have city water for drinking. Just wonder you thoughts on this. we will consider ordering a kit, but for now wonder if we can use the "PUR" and be safe? thanks,
J
My response
I do not think you need to install any specific treatment based on the data that was provided. I think you were getting a hard sales pitch.
Hi J,
If you have city water – the PUR water filter will probably be good.
I would still recommend an annual water test when it fits your budget
http://www.check-water.com
or if you are looking for additional point of use treatment or self monitoring equipment
http://astore.amazon.com/waterwelldriller-20
Thanks
Watch our for those hard sales pitches.
Brian Oram