Turbidimetric Analysis of Water and Wastewater Samples Using a Spectrofluorimeter

• Jason J. Evans ^[1]
  1. [1] Dickinson College

     Dickinson College

     Borough of Carlisle, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 77, Nº 12 (December), 2000, págs. 1609-1609
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • As student interest in environmental science grows, many colleges and universities are developing new courses in environmental chemistry. Environmental analysis in the "real world" has become increasingly instrumental, and it is important to introduce students to the instruments and procedures that are commonly used in environmental laboratories. Turbidimetric analysis of water and wastewater is ordinarily performed in environmental laboratories using a nephelometer. This experiment illustrates that a spectrofluorimeter can be successfully employed for these types of analysis. Samples from various stages of the water and wastewater treatment processes were collected from the Carlisle Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants. The students in our Environmental Chemistry laboratory used the spectrofluorimeter to measure the scattering intensity from the samples and from a series of formazine standards. The standard curve produced from their data gave a correlation coefficient of .999, and the detection limit was 0.03 Standard Turbidity Units, which is sufficient to obtain meaningful data on most water samples. This experiment was an excellent supplement to lecture material covering water and wastewater treatment because the students were able to monitor the level of suspended particulates in the water as it makes its way through the treatment plants.