Total Suspended Solids (TSS) may cause:

• reduced light penetration in the water column
• deposition and accumatable sediment
• potential reduction in aquatic habitat

Total Suspended Solids also carry nutrients that may cause algal blooms.

(Differentiated from Total Dissolved Solids by a standardized filtration process, the dissolved portion passing through the filter.)

These samples, taken from study site locations in Tampa Bay, are analyzed for Total Suspended Solids (TSS).  This means they are being analyzed to find out how much sediment is suspended in the water column at each location.

The raw water is collected with a Van Buren bottle, dropped down to multiple depths.  The Van Buren bottle is a horizontal tube with lids that snap shut on both ends when triggered by the operator.

On average, a liter of water is taken in the field and brought back to the lab for analysis.  The raw water sample is then filtered through pre-weighed Whatman nuclepore filters on a six-port vacuum manifold.

The wet filters are then placed in labeled aluminum trays inside a drying oven that is between 103° and 105°C for one hour. 

The trays are then removed from the oven and placed into a desiccator for twenty minutes to allow the filters to cool to room temperature without the risk of being exposed to moisture in the air.  When the filters have reached room temperature, they are weighed again. 

For quality control purposes, the process is repeated; from the oven, to the desiccator, to the scale, until the difference in the weights measured is less than 4% of the previous weight or mg, whichever is less. 

The final calculation for TSS comes from the formula: