TDS: Total Dissolved Solids in your Swimming Pool, Salt Water Pool and Spa

TDS: Total Dissolved Solids is basically everything in the water besides the water itself. The junk left in the water after it evaporates and no fresh fill water is added.

TDS can become an issue if the levels are high in your pool. Basically if the water is acting strange, algae blooming with high chlorine levels, murky water etc., it could be high TDS. You can take a sample into your local pool store and have it tested.

For a pool service company a TDS meter is a good investment. I like the HACH Multi2 Tester as it does pH, Salinity, Conductivity, TDS and Temperature. A very handy tool to have in your arsenal.

TDS in your Salt Water pool is a little more complex. I talked at length with Hach to see if there was some way to calculate the TDS with all the salt in the pool. I also talked to the salt system manufacturers but everyone agreed that the best method would be to get a TDS reading and subtract the Salinity (Salt level) from that number to get a ballpark. The only way to get a true reading in a sense is when the pool is newly filled with water and salt is added. If you get the TDS at that point you will have a good baseline so you will know if the TDS gets 2500 ppm over that number it is time to change the water in the salt pool. The maximum TDS in a salt pool is debatable but 6000 ppm is a good number to stay under.

For a spa since there is usually a lot of use and a lot of chemicals added a good TDS is no more than 1500 ppm over the tap water TDS.

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[mountainsun]

So should you always minus the salt, even if it not a "salt water" pool? That would give you truer TDS calculation?

[rubenscott]

How much is it and also i was driving and the front tire broke of the axel and I got lucky I was going 25ph just crazy me and a friend were talking about it just that morning I think I jinx my self like the vids