What do high levels of dissolved solids in your drinking water mean to you? (Photo by Erica Tinsley)

Story by Erica Tinsley

Recently, a friend of mine purchased a new brand water purifier. This water purification kit came with a small handheld tester called a TDS Meter. This meter tests all the total dissolved solids in a certain amount of water.

When using this device you will read the numbers in parts per million, ppm, which Bill Boyle, lab director at the Soil, Water and Agricultural testing Lab at New Mexico State University, said is just one of the basic units for water testing.

Why are numbers so high?

Out of curiosity my friend decided to test a few of the different types of drinking water we have available in the City of Las Cruces. These ranged from purified, tap and bottled water. The numbers in bottled water ranged from 13 ppm to 30 ppm, the numbers in the purified water ranged from 0 ppm to 20 ppm (depending on the type of purifier) and the tap water ranged from 200 ppm to 500 ppm.

So, what does having high numbers of dissolved solids in your drinking water mean?

Boyle said that the total dissolved solids this meter detects are common salts and minerals found in an area like Dona Ana County.

Water is a crucial commodity in life; from household activities to being the number source for living. (Photo by Erica Tinsley)

“Those are the different chemicals that dissolve into the waters; they are in all waters,” Boyle explained. He also said  tap water can be considered healthier than bottled or purified water because it still has these minerals the body needs and is rigorously tested for harmful materials.

The lab director also said  tap water is safe, and the only reason to worry about the cleanliness of your tap water is if the numbers of total dissolved solids range in the mid-to-high thousands ppm.

My friend drinks purified water because he believes it tastes better, and he thought it was healthier.

I began to wonder what types of water are consumed more commonly in Las Cruces and conducted a short survey of students on campus and found that out of the students I questioned most drank tap water for its convenience.

The one student who did drink purified water said she thought it was healthier, but after she heard Boyle’s information,  she said she would continue to drink the purified water because she liked the taste better. Two male students at NMSU who drank tap water said they drank tap water because it had easy access and was free, for the most part.

“As far as I’m concerned, bottled water (companies) get their water from the tap anyways,” John Cormier, student and water consumer, said.  One student said it didn’t matter to him either way.

“I don’t really care what’s in the water, as long as I don’t get sick,” Bob Hill, NMSU student, said.

But the bottom line is that Las Crucens’ tap water is perfectly safe. So drink up!