Total suspended solids is a
water quality measurement usually abbreviated TSS. This parameter was at one time called non-filterable residue (NFR), a term that refers to the identical measurement: the dry-weight of particles trapped by a
filter, typically of a specified pore size. However, the term "non-filterable" suffered from an odd (for science) condition of usage: in some circles (
Oceanography, for example) "filterable" meant the material retained on a filter, so non-filterable would be the water and particulates that passed through the filter. In other disciplines (
Chemistry and
Microbiology for examples) and dictionary definitions, "filterable" means just the opposite: the material passed by a filter, usually called "
Total dissolved solids" or
TDS. Thus in chemistry the non-filterable solids are the retained material called the residue.
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A measure of the suspended solids in wastewater, effluent, or water bodies, determined by tests for "total suspended non-filterable solids." (See:
suspended solids.)