Fuel Energy and Environment Lab

Lab Report Group 5

Water Sampling and TDS
Measurement
Members:
M Hammad Asghar
M Furqan
M Hamza Riaz
M Faisal Afridi
Muntazir Mehdi
M Mubashir Ibrahim

Objective:
The aim of experiment is to determine TDS of different samples of wastewater.

Theory:
Total dissolved solids (TDS) is a measure of the dissolved combined
content of all inorganic and organic substances present in a liquid in
molecular, ionized, or micro-granular (colloidal sol) suspended form. TDS
concentrations are often reported in parts per million (ppm). Water TDS
concentrations can be determined using a digital meter.[1]
Generally, the operational definition is that the solids must be small enough
to survive filtration through a filter with 2-micrometer (nominal size, or
smaller) pores. Total dissolved solids are normally discussed only for
freshwater systems, as salinity includes some of the ions constituting the
definition of TDS. The principal application of TDS is in the study
of water quality for streams, rivers, and lakes. Although TDS is not
generally considered a primary pollutant (e.g. it is not deemed to be
associated with health effects), it is used as an indication of aesthetic
characteristics of drinking water and as an aggregate indicator of the
presence of a broad array of chemical contaminants.
Primary sources for TDS in receiving waters are agricultural runoff and
residential (urban) runoff, clay-rich mountain waters, leaching of soil
contamination, and point source water pollution discharge from industrial
or sewage treatment plants. The most common chemical constituents are
calcium, phosphates, nitrates, sodium, potassium, and chloride, which are
found in nutrient runoff, general stormwater runoff and runoff from snowy
climates where road de-icing salts are applied. The chemicals may be
cations, anions, molecules or agglomerations on the order of one
thousand or fewer molecules, so long as a soluble microgranule is
formed. More exotic and harmful elements of TDS are pesticides arising
from surface runoff. Certain naturally occurring total dissolved solids arise
from the weathering and dissolution of rocks and soils. The United States
has established a secondary water quality standard of 500 mg/L to
provide for palatability of drinking water.

Operating procedure:
• Collect five samples of wastewater from different areas in campus area in
sampling bottles
• Take five different China dishes and heat them initially (to remove any
moisture)
Number them from 1 to 5 and measure their initial weights. Pour 50 ml of each
sample in China dish and measure final weight.
Put China dishes in oven and heat them for approximately 2 hours such that all
water gets evaporated.
Weight the China dishes left with residue and find mass of residue left in China
dish through difference.
Determine TDS using following formula

Observations And Calculations:

𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒆(𝒎𝒈)
𝑻𝑫𝑺 =
𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆(𝑳)
Sr Name Initial Weight Weight Weight Weight TDS
No of Weight of China of of of
Source of Dish China Residue Residue
China After Dish (g) (mg) (mg/L)
Dish(g) sampling after
50ml heating
(g) (g)
1 Distilled 68 116 68.045 0.045 45 900
water
2 Ground 68 116 68.097 0.097 97 1940
Water
3 Cement 64 112 64.845 0.845 645 12900
Water
4 Mud 76 124 76.674 0.674 674 13480
Water
5 Algae 70 118 70.367 0.367 367 7340
Water

Results:
We got the following results,

Distilled water 900mg/L

Ground Water 1940mg/L
Cement Water 12900mg/L
Mud Water 13480mg/L
Algae Water 7340mg/L
Only distilled water and ground water are eligible for drinking while the others
have too much dissolved solids which are not drinkable.

Shut Down Procedure:

Turn off the oven and mass balance. Empty the sample bottles and China dishes
and wash them thoroughly