Wisconsin Plumbing Practice Test

Total Suspended Solids describe the portion of solids in a water sample that do not dissolve and remain suspended. These particles are large enough to be captured by filtration, and the amount is expressed as mass per volume (usually mg/L). This makes TSS a key indicator of particulate pollution and a measure of how well a wastewater treatment process, like settling or filtration, is removing solids from the water. It’s the standard term because it clearly specifies what is being measured: solids that are suspended, not dissolved. The other phrasings don’t fit the established terminology. Reordering the words changes the conventional name, and phrases like “in sediment” refer to solids that are already settled out or settled matter, not the suspended solids in the water column.