When you book a free water assessment with Waterly, we test your water for a range of parameters and provide a detailed report. But a list of numbers is only useful if you know what they mean. Here is a plain-English guide to the most common parameters.
pH: This measures how acidic or alkaline your water is on a scale of 0–14. Australian drinking water guidelines recommend a pH between 6.5 and 8.5. Water outside this range can taste metallic or feel slippery.
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): This is the total amount of dissolved minerals, salts, and metals in your water. A TDS below 600 mg/L is considered good. High TDS can affect taste and indicate the need for reverse osmosis.
Chlorine: Added by water suppliers for disinfection. While safe at regulated levels, chlorine affects taste and odour. Carbon filtration removes it completely.
Hardness: Measures calcium and magnesium levels. Water above 200 mg/L is considered hard and will cause scale buildup. A scale-reduction filter addresses this.
Heavy Metals: Lead, copper, and other metals can leach from old pipes. Any detectable level of lead is a concern and should be addressed with filtration.
