Wastewater Lab · What TSS Represents
What Is TSS (Total Suspended Solids)?
TSS uses the dry material caught on the filter and the measured sample volume.
Suspended Material
TSS measures suspended material caught on a filter from a wastewater sample. It is not a count of every particle, and it is different from dissolved solids and settleable solids.
High-Level Test Path
The sample is mixed, a test portion is measured, and the suspended material is caught on a prepared filter. The filter is washed as required, then dried, cooled, and weighed. Later pages explain these stages one at a time.
Mass And Sample Volume
The increase in dry filter mass shows how much material was captured. The lab uses that mass and the measured sample volume to determine the TSS concentration.
Where The Result Helps
Operators compare TSS by location and over time to follow solids separation and treatment performance. The result means more when it stays connected to where and when the sample was collected and what the plant was doing.
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Laboratory Fundamentals
This page comes from the free course. It follows a wastewater sample from collection to a result an operator can use, with short knowledge checks and a certificate of completion.
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