| I pump from an artesian spring which comes out of the ground at 275 ppm. I would like it to be lower, but cannot justify the cost of reverse osmosis or demineralization.
I bought a TDS meter to keep track of nutrient concentrations in a hydrophonic tomato garden. About the only time I use it in the fish ponds is when I loose track of water exchanges. The longer water stays in a pond, the higher the TDS climbs. The increases are due to evaporation and the release of minerals in the decomposition of feed, feces, leaf litter, etc. So, TDS measurements don't mean much unless you know the source and nature of the dissolved solids.
The TDS meter would be a handy tool if you were blending reverse osmosis water with tap (mains) water in order to hit an optimum kH. The meter is much quicker and easier to use than a kH kit and, in this case, organic processes would not be impacting the reading.
steve hopkins |