# Tds ???



## rhoffart (Oct 4, 2009)

Does the TDS (total dissolved solids) tell you anything in wine-making? I have a meter (for testing quality drinking water) and just tested a commercial wine and the reading was 91ppm. I don’t know if this is a good measure of anything when making wine. I did a quick search and found nothing on the net. 

Just wondering … 

Rick


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## Wade E (Oct 4, 2009)

I have never seen iy used in this field bbut maybe it could help when clearing a red wine which is usualll pretty hard to tell when it truly is clear. Sound like you should start a red wine and walk us through this experiment!


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## Tom (Oct 4, 2009)

Hmm sounds interesting.. How much does this thing cost?


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## rhoffart (Oct 4, 2009)

We are white drinkers but it might be an option … I just opened a “Water to Wine” bottle that we bought yesterday in Boerne, TX. And it measured at 156ppm. My only problem with that is we have very high mineral content in this area … out of the tap at 20ppm. 

It was great ... a Viognier

In my kits I used Walmart spring water and I just measured it at 5ppm.

They are less then 50 bucks … http://www.watervalue.com/testkit/tds.html


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## winemanden (Oct 7, 2009)

1ppm = 1gm/litre. Here's a link explaining it.
http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/articles/OT/FA04/Q&A.pdf

So if the Viognier measured 91ppm it contains 91gm of dissolved solids ie sugar. 
A level tspn sugar weighs approx 3gm, 91ppm or 91g/litre = 30 tspn.

Seems a lot of sugar to me, always assuming my figures are correct. If not it's foot in mouth time.
Maybe your meter gives a false reading due to alcohol in the same way a refractometer does. Does the label on the bottle show gms/litre? If it does, maybe you can work it out from that. 

Regards to all, Winemanden.


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## Luc (Oct 7, 2009)

I think you got the math a bit wrong Winemanden.

1 liter (water) equals 1 kilo(gram) meaning 1000 gram.

So 1 ppm (part per million) is the 1/1000 th part of 1 gram.

Luc


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## rhoffart (Oct 7, 2009)

well i think I'm going to throw this measurement out the window ... too many variables ... I just bottled my first kit. A less (cheap) breezin kit. And it measured out at 630ppm with the TDS meter.

I was kinda surprised at the ph ... it came in at 3.0ph ... I thought it would come in higher then that. 

and heck ... it was kinda good, a little sweet and a little light. It should be just right next summer when it gets 100 degrees.


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## winemanden (Oct 8, 2009)

Thanks Luc, you are so kind saying that I got it a bit wrong, it was *miles* wrong. As I said Foot in mouth time. My wife said, 'Serves you right, You need your eyes testing again. Put your glasses on!' Or maybe I should put my glass down.
Apologies to all who read it. 

Regards to all, Winemanden.


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## travelnutt (Apr 28, 2020)

From what I read, red wine should be about 5 on the ph scale


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## travelnutt (Apr 28, 2020)

Is there a conversion from Ph to TDS? Or are they two completely different things ?


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## Johnd (Apr 28, 2020)

travelnutt said:


> From what I read, red wine should be about 5 on the ph scale



Hmmmm, might want to check your reading source. Red wine, depending upon the varietal, style, and your personal taste, should ideally tip the pH scale in the 3.4 - 3.7 range. You may find the occasional red a few points out of that range, but not below 3.0 nor much above 4.0


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## cmason1957 (Apr 28, 2020)

travelnutt said:


> Is there a conversion from Ph to TDS? Or are they two completely different things ?



and yes, they are completely different things ph is the measure of hydrogen ions in a solution. TDS is Total Dissolved Solids, absolutely unrelated things.


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## Newlyretired (Apr 29, 2020)

As Cmason stated TDS measures total dissolved solids, it has nothing to due with pH or clarity, if you want to measure clarity you need to measure turbidity or TSS ( total suspended solids).
rhoffart, 20 ppm TDS is not high at all for water and would have very little minerals in it


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## travelnutt (Apr 29, 2020)

Thanks


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## randalmiles (Dec 27, 2022)

rhoffart said:


> Does the TDS (total dissolved solids) tell you anything in wine-making? I have a meter (for testing quality drinking water) and just tested a commercial wine and the reading was 91ppm. I don’t know if this is a good measure of anything when making wine. I did a quick search and found nothing on the net.
> 
> Just wondering …
> 
> Rick


Wow, you asked a very good question. I have a TDS meter I use for water. When I put it in red wine I get numbers like 600 ppm, 1230 ppm, and even as high as 1430ppm. I could taste the salt in the last two. They were both highly acclaimed wines that came from a very salty valley. Remembering the TDS measures salts, and many vineyards are irrigated with groundwater which is high in TDS. I would expect many of today's wines to have high TDS numbers. I can't say if it is a good measure or not in winemaking but knowing more about your wine can't hurt.


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