Home >> Science & Nature >> Science

How to Convert NTU to TSS

Turbidity is the measurement of particle density in water. Bodies of water with a high turbidity will appear murky or cloudy and are less likely to be drinkable than bodies of water with lower turbidity values. Being able to convert between the various measurements of turbidity can be beneficial for scientists working internationally or with sets of data from different labs.

Instructions

- 1
  Contact your local watershed committee and obtain the conversion values for the water you are sampling. Since different bodies of water acquire and discharge sedimentary particles at different rates, the conversion will be dependent on knowing this data.
- 2
  Measure the turbidity of the water several times over the course of a few days to obtain your average nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU) value for the area you will be sampling.
- 3
  Plug your average NTU value into the baseflow formula for the body of water you are sampling and solve the function to get your total suspended solids (TSS) value in mg/l.
- 4
  Multiply your TSS value by 365 to obtain an estimated annual minimum sediment yield for the body of water you are measuring.

Science