3 in 1 TDS METER

This should last longer than water test strips, it's more accurate, and has other uses. I bought this to get a more accurate measurement of how hard our water is. I have an expensive home espresso machine, and these machines often die from internal scale buildup from the minerals in our water. If the water is too soft, the espresso is bad; too hard and the machine needs descaling and won't last long. There's quite a lively discussion on what a good hardness range is, but I've settled on the 90-150 range that is often recommended. I have some pool test strips that read my water at perhaps 150ppm, since the color is somewhere between the 100ppm color and the 250ppm color. It's quite a guess. I have a supposedly more accurate set of strips that reads in 50ppm increments, but those strips read 0ppm? It takes 30 seconds to get a read from these strips, but the Hofun meter was instant and read 120ppm. I read that you can tell if your water filter needs changing if the tap water and filtered water have similar ppm readout. I was overdue to replace my expensive Multipure filter, and hate to waste money changing it too often. Straight tap water reads 121ppm. After changing my filter, the filtered water reads 111ppm. I retested the filtered water a few times over the past few days, and it ranged from 110-112ppm. The meter comes with a snazzy little case, instructions, and is quick and easy to use. It also came with two spare batteries. I'm quite happy with this purchase.

I don't have any way to know if this thing is reading accurately. That being said, it seems right everywhere I've tested it. When you run it on tap water, you get some high reading. Run it on filtered tap water, you get a lower reading. I ran it on bottled water, had nearly no dissolved solids in it. I ran it on an under-sink filter, it had near bottled-water levels of TDS. The reading is fast, easy to read, cheap... Feels a little chinese/plasticky. But based on my measurements, I believe it's decently accurate. It's worth getting for those curious minds out there who want to see if their water filter is doing its job, or if the bottled water is any better than tap water. (Surprise, it is!)

Easy to use but the display is not very bright. Lights in and he room drowns out the display which makes it hard to read. Other than that, the product works perfect

The meter reads instantaneously. My tap water was 244ppm, bottled spring water was 154 ppm (which is average for spring water), and my filtered water from reverse osmosis filter was 54ppm! According to the pamphlet provided, pure drinking water is 40ppm or under. My filtered water has added mineral for taste, which is probably why it reads a bit higher. Based on the numbers, the reading seems very accurate. The meter is super easy to use; just remove the cap, turn it on, and stick the prod in the water. The back light is also a nice feature so you can see the number very clearly. It came with a carrier and the meter already has a battery in it, and it also came with not 1, but 2 extra batteries!! For the price, it’s a total deal. Very happy with the purchase and I’ll be using if often for sure and even take it with me when traveling.

Works as it should for testing water. Just remember that if you get a reading of 100-300 total dissolved solids it doesn't mean the water is bad. Average tap water is between 100-300 TDS. Purified water would be around 5-30 TDS. A low TDS reading is only telling you the water has less total dissolved solids. It could have other contaminants into. It should only be used to measure the water hardness.

Right out of the box this device seemed to be getting the job done. I opened the package, red the instructions, and was testing in minutes. I first tested freshly distilled water to find 5ppm of contamination. I attribute the low number to the reuse of the nutrient bucket. That number seemed right. Now to mix a new batch of nutrients, I measured out what I would expect to be 600ppm and added it to my water. This TDS meter showed 587ppm (from a 5 just moments before). I really didn't know what to expect, as I've never used a TDS meter, but this tool was easy to use and seems accurate enough for my needs. I'm very happy to have made this purchase.

I'm very careful with tools/equipment in general, but somehow a little moisture crept into the electronics (e.g., where the battery is) during my measurements. Although it worked for a bit even when the electronics were apparently wet, it provided too much to overcome: even when I let it air-out overnight (at room temperature) the moisture proved to be too much (I guess) and ultimately 'shorted' this meter. I will buy again, however, as the meter did work quite well. At a cost ~ $15 it's not surprising it's not very 'robust', but cheap enough to purchase again if/as needed.

I used this meter to measure the quality of my tap water, water from a 3 month old filter and water in my brand new filter. This device was easy to use and helpful in letting me know our tap water is really good quality at 175 here in Sacramento and the filtered water is even better. My brand new filter showed improved purity at 155 (sorry no pic) and the old filter (different Brand) was still going strong at 146. Sometimes I question the accuracy of Devices that give a measurement when I buy them on Amazon because the item will give a different reading when testing the exact same item in quick succession where the conditions are the same. This meter does not have that issue. It read the same across multiple tests.

There is no cardboard packaging. There is no instruction manual in English. There is a general description in Chinese. It is not possible to use without the instruction manual.Sent it back.