I'm wondering if my tds meter is wrong. Mind u I'm walking distance to the dam

Is that a good or a bad thing? :biggrin:

Bet you thats wrong. I doubt a natural water body would be anywhere near that low. So much **** gets dissolved into the water so naturally/easily. (not trying to bash or anything lol but im just saying i think your meter is out to lunch, specially if thats from the tap).

And you think 238 is bad... My well water is 1200... and a friend of mine, his well water is around 3000! Haha. And our TDS meters are not wrong because those values have been tested in duplicate by different units!

Like I mentioned earlier, some of you folks on the west coast are blessed with very low TDS source water. I think it might be due to the fact that there's so much rain, which is quite soft water, and your reservoirs primarily collect rain water. Your TDS reading is most likely accurate. If your meter is a dual type, you can try switching the probes around to see if you get any significant variance in readings between the two. Or beg, borrow another meter to validate your own. And rejoice, your DI media, if you have it, will last a very long time.

One of the big advantages of a DI system is that is produces fairly consistent results which means you have a solid, year-round baseline to work from when it comes to the water you put in your tank.

Sometimes moving even a few blocks across town can give you different water and blam! algae bloom.

It removes one level of mystery in the hobby. I'd recommend you make the (relatively small) investment and get the filter.