Tyler had a question about conductivity:
Hi. Yesterday we had an appointment with a man who came by the house with one of those fancy pants test kits that is supposed to shock homeowners into buying an expensive and unnecessary(?) water filter system. One question: Does a high conductivity value really mean our water is bad
Thanks for your help!
When talking about water or another solution containing electrolytes, conductivity, also called to as specific conductance, refers to the water’s ability to conduct electricity. We measure conductivity in siemens per meter (S/m).
High quality deionized water has a conductivity of about 5.5 mS/m, typical drinking water in the range of 5-50 mS/m, while sea water about 5 S/m[2] (i.e., sea water’s conductivity is one million times higher than deionized water). ( source )
Many times a solution’s conductivity value gives a good indication of how many dissolved solids (aka: total dissolved solids) the solution contains. As for whether or not drinking highly conductive water poses a danger to your health, that will depend on what TYPES of solids you have dissolved in your water.
Having said that, we suggest that you not let an in-home water filter system salesman persuade to buy ANYthing based solely upon the results of a conductivity test. Get your water tested by an independent laboratory such as National Testing Labs first and then start looking for a water filter system after you find out if you really have any ‘issues’ with your water.
