TDS is not a professional way to test the water quality, TDS means total dissolved solids. For example, if you put very little salt(NaCl) into the water and test the TDS, you will find the result is dramatically high. The same thing, if your water is full of minerals, the TDS is very high too.

The SK99 doesn’t remove any of the minerals from water, it only stops heavy metals such as Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and over 70-80 VOCs, and it removes greatly the chlorine from water. Therefore, it is the reason why the TDS you get is not that lower as you expect.

TDS meter testing method is widely used in reverse osmosis systems since the RO filter system also removes minerals from water. If a RO membrane doesn’t have a good performance, the TDS will be relatively high. And if TDS is getting much higher, means it’s time to change the RO membrane.

So please do not use TDS to test any water except Reverse Osmosis System, because the result is meaningless.

About the service life of the filter cartridge for SK99, we would like to recommend you to change the 1st stage every 3-6 months, change the 2nd stage every 8-12 months and change the 3rd stage every 12-18 months. Please notice the service life depends on your water quality and daily usage. All the specification data of the flow capacity that is listed on the sticker is based on actual tests from the laboratory and its provided water.

This filter should be used in conjunction with municipally treated drinking water or water that has been properly disinfected before use. The water filter cartridge is manufactured with 0.5micron carbon (top rate) that will get easily clogged up by any type of dirt or settlement from a well.

If you would like your refrigerator or ice maker to have clean and safe water from the Frizzlife filter system, we also have an IMC-2 icemaker kit available on our online store. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at support@frizzlife.com