Determination of Total Solids in Wastewater: Water Treatment and Environmental Protection

What is Total Solids in Wastewater?

What is Total Solids (TSS)?

Total solids refers to all solids, usually in physical form, other than soluble or insoluble substances in water. In wastewater, these substances are usually classified as suspended solids (solids suspended in water), soluble solids (substances that are soluble in water but then precipitate) and non-soluble solids (substances that do not dissolve in water). These solids are important components that cause water pollution and directly affect water quality.

“Total Solids” is defined as the sum of the settleable and non-settable solids in the wastewater sample, which consists of sediment, rock particles, mud and clay materials, colluvial organic matter fragments and plankton. Human activities and erosion of agricultural land can increase the amount of suspended solids.

Total solids determination helps to determine the need for water treatment and current environmental impacts by measuring the amount of these substances in the water.

Why is Total Solids Determination Performed?

Total solids determination in wastewater plays an important role in overseeing water treatment and environmental protection processes. The main reasons for performing these analyzes are as follows:

Evaluating the Efficiency of Water Treatment Processes: In water treatment plants, solids are removed during water treatment. Determination of total solids in wastewater is used to measure the efficiency of treatment plants and to identify deficiencies in the treatment process. If the treatment process is inadequate, further measures may be required.
Preventing Environmental Pollution: High levels of solids in wastewater can lead to water pollution and damage the environment. They can reduce water oxygen levels, damage aquatic ecosystems and disrupt the habitats of aquatic life. Total solids determination is one way to determine the environmental damage caused by these substances.
Wastewater Management and Regulatory Compliance: In many countries, wastewater discharges must be kept within environmental limits. Total solids determination helps to ensure that these limits are not exceeded and that wastewater is in compliance with regulations.
Water Quality Monitoring: Total solids can directly affect the quality of a water source. By monitoring the quality of the wastewater, it can be determined if the water needs to be treated. Also, discharging wastewater directly into water bodies can jeopardize water quality.

What are the Methods for Total Solids Determination?

Different methods are used for the determination of total solids. These methods are usually carried out by physically treating water samples and then measuring the solids. The most commonly used methods are as follows:

Gravimetric Method (Weight Method): The gravimetric method is the most widely used technique for total solids determination. In this method, a certain volume of water sample is filtered onto a pre-weighed filter paper. The filtered solids are then allowed to dry and the remaining dry solids weight is measured to calculate the total solids content. This method gives fairly accurate results but is time consuming.
Filtration Method: In this method, the water sample is passed through special filters. The solids collected as a result of filtration are dried and weighed to calculate the total amount of solids. The filtration method is a very effective method for measuring suspended solids in water.
Volumetric Method (Salt Water Method): The volumetric method allows the solids dissolved in a given volume of the water sample to be depleted as a result of certain chemical reactions. As a result, this method measures the amount of solids dissolved in the water.
Spectrophotometric Method: The spectrophotometric method indirectly calculates the number of solids in water by looking at its optical density. This method is particularly suitable for rapid analysis, but can be less accurate than other methods.

Nanolab Laboratories Group continues to provide services within the scope of Total Solids Determination in Wastewater. We also provide services in Seawater Analysis.

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