Which of the following is NOT among the six characteristics of water?

• A. Conductivity
• B. Suspended and Dissolved Solids
• C. Hardness
• D. Pathogens

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how water quality is described in terms of attributes that people can perceive or that pose health concerns. The six commonly discussed characteristics cover what affects consumer acceptance and safety: taste, odor, color, turbidity (which relates to suspended solids), hardness, and the presence of pathogens. Conductivity, on the other hand, is a measurement of how well water can carry an electric current, which increases with dissolved ions and minerals. It’s a useful indicator of mineral content or salinity and is great for process control and estimating total dissolved solids, but it isn’t counted among those standard qualitative characteristics describing water quality for taste, appearance, or health risk. Because of that, conductivity isn’t considered one of the six characteristics, while suspended and dissolved solids, hardness, and pathogens directly align with those core attributes of water quality.