Apr 2, 2017
testing for nitrates in liquid samples
these are samples of water from a man-made pond in a housing development. the law requires that the property management gets that water tested on a monthly basis. we test it for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, total nitrogen, total dissolved solids, and a few other things.
to check the concentration of nitrates, we begin by mixing 10ml of the sample with 10ml of a buffer solution, then we measure the conductivity of the water with a potentiometric probe. final concentration is displayed on the meter in ppm.
the probe is calibrated before each batch, and the samples are analyzed alongside blanks, standards, and other quality control checks to ensure accuracy and legally defensible data.
