What is TDS, Why Does It Matter and What Is The Right Range For You?
SOFT WATER BY MELISSA
This is honestly a tough question to answer because the EPA won’t provide much information on it without ending up in an eventual battle with citizens over why they aren’t treating the water better. We often have to go to other sources to get a better answer that makes general health sense. That means varying opinions on the subject, especially where bottled water manufacturers are concerned because marketing is everything, and if they aren’t supplying a consistent range — which often happens if they are not changing their filters on time in their purification systems as we have seen from many bottlers who have gotten in trouble for this, including our own former local Las Vegas bottler, Real Water — they can be sued for false advertising, or for making people sick in worst case scenarios. That puts us in a tough spot for figuring out what makes for healthy drinking water!
Water is the most important thing that we consume every day. So what should a general guideline look like? I’ve taken considerable time to comb the internet for some basic standard ranges, and hopefully this helps you, the consumer.
*The standard measurement tool used in the water industry is called a TDS meter. It’s basically a small “stick” tool with electrodes on one end that measure a charge from the particles in the water, and a digital readout gives you the results.
Basic TDS ranges are outlined below and are in PPM (parts per million):
*50 <: unacceptable for drinking; essentially distilled due to lack of sufficient minerals
*50 - 100/150: acceptable for drinking esp. where water is polluted by sewage, contaminants
*150 - 300: Good, healthiest range for proper heart and organ health
*300 - 500: Fair, but in the range for risk of kidney stones according to many medical experts
*500 - 900: Less acceptable for drinking; EPA MUST treat the water at over 500 per law
*900 +: Least acceptable for drinking water; common in sparkling mineral waters
Most basic reverse osmosis systems reduce the TDS to less than 20, which is in the distilled range and is unhealthy to drink because it flushes critical electrolytes from your body, creating an imbalance that could leave you clinically dehydrated within 3 - 7 days. You probably don’t want to drink that unless you’re on kidney dialysis or under a physician’s care specifically regarding this.
The rest of us need a range of 50 to about 150 TDS, but tolerable levels can go up to 300 before you’re at risk for kidney stones. (I got THREE kidney stones from Las Vegas water within 5 months of moving here (one of the reasons that led me to the water treatment industry, the other being an H-pylori gut infection a few years later) because we have been well over 300 for at least 15 years. In fact, I get regular readings of 400 - 450 now, which puts us VERY close to government intervention for safe drinking water per EPA’s own law governing TDS. So a safe way to look at this is that if you’re 300 - 500 TDS or higher, you probably shouldn’t drink it, or at least not for long, until you can get a quality RO that replaces the minerals your body needs.
The basic minerals needed for health, called “electrolytes” because of their charges that power our organs and body functions, are calcium, magnesium and potassium. While salt is also an electrolyte, it is less essential in your drinking water since most of us get more than enough from our foods every day. An athlete who has sweat during a workout might want a little dash of salt in their water as part of a recovery process is okay, which is why sports drinks aplenty are available for that. But if you aren’t engaged in a lot of sweating, you likely aren’t losing much salt to create an imbalance. This is why my H2OtoGo Custom Drinking Station replaces the essential three above. We can also customize the system to give you more minerals or added pH — but pH is another topic for a separate article.
Please reach out via my contact form, or call 702-550-1448 - I’m happy to help!
Melissa