How Long Does a 19L Water Bottle Last? A Guide for Families of 2 and 5
How long one 19L bottle lasts for a household of 2 or 5 in Karachi: illustrative estimates, what changes them and how to choose a weekly or monthly plan.
What is TDS in drinking water, and what does it not tell you?
Short answer
TDS is the total amount of minerals and salts dissolved in water, measured in ppm. It tells you how much is dissolved, not whether the water is safe or which minerals it contains. Treat it as one clue and look at the full composition.
What TDS measures
TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids. It adds up everything dissolved in the water, such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulphate, and reports it in parts per million (ppm). A handheld TDS meter does not count particles. It measures how well the water conducts electricity and converts that into a ppm number.
What a TDS reading can tell you
- How much is dissolved. A higher number means more dissolved minerals and salts.
- Whether treatment changed the water. Reverse osmosis removes a large share of dissolved solids, so the reading drops after RO.
- A hint about taste. Water with very little dissolved in it can taste flat, and water with a lot can taste salty or heavy.
What it cannot tell you
- Whether the water is safe. TDS does not detect bacteria or many contaminants. Low TDS does not prove water is safe.
- Which minerals are present. Two waters with the same TDS can have very different compositions.
- Whether the meter is accurate. Cheap meters drift, so compare readings from the same meter.
Why mineral balancing exists
RO strips out most dissolved solids. Some producers then add minerals back to bring the water to a balanced composition and a more pleasant taste. Pearl Voda treated water goes through a mineral balancing stage and is maintained within a TDS range of 120-180 ppm, subject to routine monitoring.
How to read a bottle label
Look for a composition table rather than a single TDS figure. Ours lists calcium chloride, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, sulphate, total dissolved solids and pH, each as a ppm range. You can see the same table on our our water page, along with the 12 treatment stages.
Comparing options? Delivered water vs a home RO filter.
Questions about our water?
Ask us on WhatsApp and we will point you to the details.