Total Suspended Solids are solids that:

• A. Pass through a glass filter
• B. Do not pass through a glass filter
• C. Are dissolved solids
• D. Are gases

Answer: (B)

Total suspended solids are solid particles that stay in suspension in water and can be captured by filtration. Because these particles are large enough to be retained by a glass filter, they do not pass through the filter. Dissolved solids, by contrast, pass through the filter and are not counted as suspended. Gases are not solids, so they aren’t described as suspended solids. So the idea is that TSS do not pass through a glass filter.