Testing water supply?

[proton]

Bought a <removed> water testing stick to give an indication on the water from our Pure water filer system. Surprised to see almost the same reading of around 100 from both the tap and the water filter. According to the instructions anything over 50 is not fit to drink. How accurate are these things and could you drink water reading over 100? Mineral water is far higher but it cannot differentiate between bad and good deposits in the water.

[KhunLA]

They are very accurate (brand dependent), and I have a Xiaomi <removed>.  Our tap before & after Pure filter was 160+ 

 

One thing they don't do, is tell what the dissolved solids are 🙄  Just too many as far as I'm concerned.  

 

We now buy bottled RO water, and always < 5.  18+ liter jugs for ฿20, delivered.  Also collect rain water, but not for drinking, just a stash for late April & May, when city pressure drops to silly low.  Usually have stash of 18k liters on hand, till start using daily.   Last till the rains stop.   

 

Last year, due to drought, they even shut the water off during the day, just before the rains kicked in.

 

Tanks just got topped up today, as thunderstorm forecast was accurate.  Along with solar panels now dust free 

[proton]

9 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

They are very accurate (brand dependent), and I have a Xiaomi <removed>.  Our tap before & after Pure filter was 160+ 

 

One thing they don't do, is tell what the dissolved solids are 🙄  Just too many as far as I'm concerned.  

 

We now buy bottled RO water, and always < 5.  18+ liter jugs for ฿20, delivered.  Also collect rain water, but not for drinking, just a stash for late April & May, when city pressure drops to silly low.  Usually have stash of 18k liters on hand, till start using daily.   Last till the rains stop.   

 

Last year, due to drought, they even shut the water off during the day, just before the rains kicked in.

 

Tanks just got topped up today, as thunderstorm forecast was accurate.  Along with solar panels now dust free 

 

This is a xiaomi one. Our filter system was relatively expensive Pure one, seems does almost nothing.

[KhunLA]

26 minutes ago, proton said:

 

This is a xiaomi one. Our filter system was relatively expensive Pure one, seems does almost nothing.

Pretty much ... takes out the chlorine smell & taste, and that's about it.  Luckily we only had the 3 stage counter top thingy.   Asked Pure if they offered anything that took out heavy metals, and answer was NO.

 

Daughter has a fancy system, 3 stages, sand filter then RO as last stage.  Was damn expensive and filters need changing more times than I'd want to do.

 

Just drinking and cooking water so five 18+ jugs last us a while.   A lot cheaper than the 6L for 29 baht we used to get from Makro.  Wasted baht for couple years 

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

They are very accurate (brand dependent), and I have a Xiaomi <removed>.  Our tap before & after Pure filter was 160+ 

For others, forgot, can't type last 3 letters.  But brand and what it is, XiaomiTDSPen (total dissolved solids), and available on LAZ & Shopee.

 

More info about testing pen, and local water (bottled), all good ... 

 

for link below, need to add the 3 letters inbetween Xiaomi & Pen , instead of <removed> in the link 🙄

 

https://www.richardbarrow.com/2019/03/review-of-xiaomi-mi-<removed>-water-quality-tester-pen/

[proton]

Wonder if those Coway filters are any good? SIL has got one, will take the pen round and see what that reading is 

[proton]

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

For others, forgot, can't type last 3 letters.  But brand and what it is, XiaomiTDSPen (total dissolved solids), and available on LAZ & Shopee.

 

More info about testing pen, and local water (bottled), all good ... 

 

for link below, need to add the 3 letters inbetween Xiaomi & Pen , instead of <removed> in the link 🙄

 

https://www.richardbarrow.com/2019/03/review-of-xiaomi-mi-<removed>-water-quality-tester-pen/

 

Tested the coway system, would hardly measure anything when it did it was 8. But you lease them, about 40k for 3 years they clean it every 2 months and change the filters every 4 months. Expensive but they work, about twice the cost of buying bottled water.

[Grusa]

I have had a <removed> meter for years, from Lazada. Our water is from a communal borehole, supposedly filtered before distribution, and reads 240+ out of the tap, and stings like hell if you get it in a cut!

The same water after passing through our reverse osmosis system reads between 4 and 16, depending on time since filter replacement, normally six months or so for carbon and particulate, and salt for the resin. The r-o filter lasts two years. The <removed> is highest immediately after filter change and reduces over time, then creeps up when changes are due. There is no residual taste to the water.

Bottled water bought outside generally reads 38 or more.

The chart on the stick says anything under 150 is safe to drink!

[Grusa]

What is so offensive about xTdSx that it is censored? Surely it's not the reversed version!

[djs2799]

Why are all these meters being <censored> in replies?

[Lacessit]

28 minutes ago, Grusa said:

What is so offensive about xTdSx that it is censored? Surely it's not the reversed version!

Because it also refers to an imaginary medical condition right - whingers ascribe to leftists.

 

A Total Dissolved Solids of 50 is fine. The WHO recommendation states < 300 mg/L is excellent, 300-600 mg/L is good quality. Maybe the scale is different on the measuring sticks.

 

I don't mess around with expensive filters. Unless the water has heavy metals in it, boiling is all that is needed. It kills bacteria, viruses and oocysts, and also removes chlorine and chloramines by steam distillation.

 

Any university laboratory can measure heavy metal contamination.

[Jing Joe]

Read once that readings of Total Disolved Solids above 500 parts per million were unfit for human consumption according to the W.H.O.

Above 150 is enough for me.  Someone said depends what the solids are. Yup, and the internet shows many variations on acceptable levels.

Be thankful there might be chlorine present for sanitising and just need to leave water in open bottles for a day or two for it to evaporate.

There are filters and there are filters and a Total Disolved Solids  meter sure sorts them out.

Some bottled water is distilled and 3 PPM  but that subject will raise the ire of some purists.

 

 

[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Because it also refers to an imaginary medical condition right - whingers ascribe to leftists.

 

A Total Dissolved Solids of 50 is fine. The WHO recommendation states < 300 mg/L is excellent, 300-600 mg/L is good quality. Maybe the scale is different on the measuring sticks.

 

I don't mess around with expensive filters. Unless the water has heavy metals in it, boiling is all that is needed. It kills bacteria, viruses and oocysts, and also removes chlorine and chloramines by steam distillation.

 

Any university laboratory can measure heavy metal contamination.

In CM, I just use the tap water, no problems after 12 years of drinking it.

My Trumpmeter says 80-120, not so bad.

[Lacessit]

13 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

In CM, I just use the tap water, no problems after 12 years of drinking it.

My Trumpmeter says 80-120, not so bad.

Trumpmeter, good one.

 

The main risk with tap water is oocysts such as giardia and cryptosporidia, which are unaffected by chlorination, removed by filters, killed stone dead by boiling.

 

I don't know about here, but giardia is endemic in North America.

 

A former boss of mine acquired giardiitis after a visit to Chicago. Extremely debilitating, and it took specialists in Australia almost a year to diagnose what it was.

 

 

[xtrnuno41]

Well I think you want to know what is in it.

Just some PPM measured , what does it mean?

PPM of lead measured? Or the calcium, quite a difference.

This would be already better

Then you have an outcome .

But wonder if nano or micro plastic can be put in a value.

 

[Lacessit]

25 minutes ago, Jing Joe said:

Read once that readings of Total Disolved Solids above 500 parts per million were unfit for human consumption according to the W.H.O.

Above 150 is enough for me.  Someone said depends what the solids are. Yup, and the internet shows many variations on acceptable levels.

Be thankful there might be chlorine present for sanitising and just need to leave water in open bottles for a day or two for it to evaporate.

There are filters and there are filters and a Total Disolved Solids  meter sure sorts them out.

Some bottled water is distilled and 3 PPM  but that subject will raise the ire of some purists.

 

 

We used to get our drinking water from bores in the De Grey river near Port Hedland, 1000 - 1200 ppm. The main risk is kidney damage from too much calcium, although nobody stayed around for very long. Ten years was about maximum, unless you were a masochist.

 

Evaporation removes chlorine. It does not remove chloramines, which are more stable. They are removed by boiling.

 

Chloramines are either naturally occurring, by combination of chlorine with organics present, or deliberately added to assist sterilization.

 

Chloramines have been linked to an increased risk of soft tissue cancers.

[BritManToo]

16 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I don't know about here, but giardia is endemic in North America.

You might be right, had the symptoms last year, lasted 3 months, got better on it's own.

I'll boil the water for making my milk in future.

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

You might be right, had the symptoms last year, lasted 3 months, got better on it's own.

I'll boil the water for making my milk in future.

Flagyl is most commonly used to treat giardia.

[impulse]

On 3/8/2025 at 5:46 PM, proton said:

Wonder if those Coway filters are any good? SIL has got one, will take the pen round and see what that reading is 

 

Other than RO and chemical filters, is any filter going to remove dissolved solids?  Suspended solids (including bugs), sure.  If the particle size is big enough. 

 

But dissolved solids are just one molecule big.  City water systems add chemicals that cause the dissolved solids to flocculate, then they can filter them out.  But that's a lot of technology and monitoring for a home unit.

 

If I drilled a water well (or drank from one) in Thailand, I'd get the water tested once a year (or so) to make sure there isn't any arsenic or other heavy metals (or any toxins).  And keep in mind that subsurface water changes in different seasons and over time as it moves through the aquifer.  There's a zillion cases around the world where agricultural and industrial contamination has ruined aquifers for potable water, often over years.  Better safe than sorry.