Automatic water and wastewater quality monitoring systems

Abstract

Water and wastewater quality monitoring programs have to be established in order to fulfill current legal requirements as well as environmental and social concerns. This entails a large number of samples to be analyzed in a short period of time. Flow analysis techniques allow the automation of the analytical methodologies providing great advantages, i.e. improved reproducibility, low reagents consumption and waste generation, as well as high analysis frequency. Sequential Injection Analysis (SIA) is an excellent tool for developing automatic analyzers with multiparametric capabilities. In this chapter, four multiparametric SIA systems which are able to determine key parameters in water and wastewater such as BOD, COD, TOC, TSS, global N, total P, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, orthophosphate, anionic detergents, sulfate, pH and conductivity are presented and discussed in detail.