text: Total suspended solids (TSS) concentration is the concentration (dry weight mass per unit volume of water) of all the material in water that is caught on a filter, usually a filter with about a 0.7 micrometer pore size. This includes all the particles suspended in water, such as mineral particles (silt, clay), organic detritus, and phytoplankton cells. Clear water bodies have low TSS concentrations. Other names for TSS include total suspended matter (TSM) and suspended particulate matter (SPM). The term suspended sediment concentration (SSC) refers to the mineral component of TSS but is sometimes used interchangeably with TSS. If desired, the concentrations of volatile (organic) and fixed (inorganic) suspended solids can be separated out using the loss-on-ignition method by burning the filter in a muffle furnace to burn off organic matter, leaving behind ash including mineral particles and inorganic components of phytoplankton cells, with TSS = volatile suspended solids + fixed suspended solids.