sidmoore
New Member
Well, I understand that a TDS reading lumps all dissolved solids together and that these, mainly, consist of calcium and magnesium. It is also my understanding that "hardness" is a measure of the amount of calcium (mainly) in the water. What I don't understand is: How can one possibly derive a reasonably close hardness estimate from a TDS reading? Witness my latest conundrum.
I came to realize that our water softener was no longer softening and decided that I had been pushing its capacity by running scheduled 1100 gallon cycles (this is a Culligan Twin 9100 with a Fleck controller), so, I figured a good first step was to do a few "on-demand" regens and did two for each tank. The practical result so far is the fact that the water now has that "slippery" feeling of softened water when showering. However, my pocket HM Digital TDS meter now reads about a hundred points higher (before: 640).
So, my main question is: How useful is a TDS meter for measuring water softener performance?'
Second, if not a TDS meter, what can I, as a homeowner, use to measure hardness?
Thanx for listening!
Sid
I came to realize that our water softener was no longer softening and decided that I had been pushing its capacity by running scheduled 1100 gallon cycles (this is a Culligan Twin 9100 with a Fleck controller), so, I figured a good first step was to do a few "on-demand" regens and did two for each tank. The practical result so far is the fact that the water now has that "slippery" feeling of softened water when showering. However, my pocket HM Digital TDS meter now reads about a hundred points higher (before: 640).
So, my main question is: How useful is a TDS meter for measuring water softener performance?'
Second, if not a TDS meter, what can I, as a homeowner, use to measure hardness?
Thanx for listening!
Sid