Total dissolved solids
The number the meter reads, what it does and does not tell you, and the one jug that drives it to zero.
Filter jugs handle this wellTDS is a single number for everything dissolved in your water — minerals, salts, metals, the lot. It is easy to measure with a cheap conductivity meter, which is why it has become the headline claim in this category and why the ZeroWater box contains one. It is worth understanding what the number means: TDS does not distinguish harmless calcium from harmful lead, so a low reading is not the same as safe water and a high reading is not the same as unsafe water. What it is genuinely good for is telling you when your cartridge is exhausted.
How you know you have it
- A meter reading above roughly 200 ppm, at which point most people can taste the mineral content
- Water that tastes distinctly different at a friend's house in the next town
What works
ZeroWater, essentially alone. Its final ion exchange stage strips dissolved solids to a reading of 000 and no other mainstream jug attempts it.
What does not
Every carbon jug. Carbon adsorbs organic compounds and chlorine; it does not remove dissolved minerals, so a Brita will barely move the TDS number even when it is working perfectly. This causes a lot of unnecessary alarm among new meter owners.
Cartridges that reduce tds
Ordered by strength of evidence, not by brand. An independently certified claim outranks a lab-tested one, which outranks a manufacturer’s word for it.
Questions
Does a filter jug remove tds?
Yes — this is one of the things a filter jug does well. ZeroWater, essentially alone. Its final ion exchange stage strips dissolved solids to a reading of 000 and no other mainstream jug attempts it.
What does not work: Every carbon jug. Carbon adsorbs organic compounds and chlorine; it does not remove dissolved minerals, so a Brita will barely move the TDS number even when it is working perfectly. This causes a lot of unnecessary alarm among new meter owners.