Sanitary laboratory

Test No. 4

Measurement of Electrical conductivity (EC) and Total

Dissolved Solids (TDS) in water
Conductivity
Is an numerical expression of the ability of an aqueous solution to carry
the electric current, this ability depends on the presence of ion, their
motility ,valence, relative concentration and on the temperature of
measurement .Inorganic acids, bases and salt solutions are relatively good
conductors while organic compounds that do not dissociate in aqueous
solution have a poor conductivity .

Dissolved solids:
Is refers to mineral’s salts, metals, cations or anions dissolved in water.
Total dissolved solids comprise inorganic salts (calcium, magnesium and
sulfates) and some small amounts of organic matter that are dissolved in
water. TDS in drinking water originate from natural sources, sewage,
urban run-off, industrial wastewater and chemicals used in the water
treatment process, and nature of piping used to convey the water. In
general, the total dissolved solids concentration is the sum of cations
(positively charged) and anions (negatively charged) ions in water,
therefore the total dissolved solids test provides a qualitative measure of
the number of dissolved ions but does not tell the nature or ion
relationships, the relationship between EC and TDS is positive correlation.

Methods of measurement
EC and TDS are measured by conductivity meter; the unit of measuring
conductivity is (mohs) which is the reciprocal of resistance (ohms).
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𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = = 𝑚𝑜ℎ𝑠 ( 𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠)𝑜𝑟 𝑆
𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
Generally, in water analysis micromohs (µS) and millimohs(mS) are used,
while TDS is measured by mg/l or ppm.

The standards

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Sanitary laboratory

Iraqi (IQS) and WHO standards TDS ≤ 1000