Why should we ensure the safety of drinking water?
Water is an elementary human need. Water is connecting to every possible form of life on earth. Each person on this planet requires at least 10 litres of safe, clean and accessible water in a day for drinking.
Safe drinking water can be defined as water that does not have any significant risk present in it for health over a long period of consumption. Safe water not necessarily is pure, it may have some impurities such as some trail of salts like calcium, magnesium, carbonates and others present in it which is injuries to health.
Millions of people die every year because of no access to safe drinking water to many water-related issues like diarrhoea cholera, malaria, hepatitis and so on. There are basic norm, standards and criterion for safe drinking water.
Proper examination is necessary to be done to ensure that water does not have any sort of harmful chemicals or substances and is perfectly fit for drinking and consumption.
In any case, if the water contains any slightest amount of harmful substance, it can cause trouble for the consumer.
This is because large organizations should conduct drinking water analysis regularly and individuals should also ensure that the water they are consuming is properly tested and safe.
Sometimes, the water purification system fails to identify the toxin levels present in water and in order to keep away from this problem, it is important contacting an authorized drinking water testing and getting all systems checked for efficiency in safe water drinking.
- Colourimetric method – Chemical agents are added which reacts with the chemical parameter interested. The product that formed absorbs the light at a wavelength. Then the water sample is analyzed in a colourimeter and compared with known standards.
- Electrode Methods – Ion-selective electrodes to measure the concentration of certain ions in a water sample with electrode and meter PH can easily be measured.
- Chromatography – Samples are passed through channels of columns containing specific coating that particularly retains definite types of chemicals. Then different compounds are passed through the column at different speeds that depend on their affinity to coating or packaging. At the exit of a column, a detector quantifies the concentration of a chemical. Many types of chromatography are liquid chromatography, ion chromatography, gas chromatography.
- Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) – AAS is used in order to analyze the presence of metals. Samples are heated electrically in a graphite furnace or inflame and then concentration are determined.
- Presence/ Absence (P-A), is a qualitative test depending on colour change to show the presence of contamination.
- Most Probable Number (MPN), estimates the number of an indicator like bacteria that are present in a water sample.
- Membrane Filtration, most accurate to determine the number of indicators in the water sample
Probable Test Methods
- Strips (Reagent) Test, single-use strips to measure the different chemical contaminants that change colour. Dipping strips into a sample of water and swishing it around, waiting for a short period and then the colour of the strip is compared with a colour chart to identify the concentration level of the chemical.
- Color Disc Comparator
- Colourimeter and photometer
- Digital Meters
Sigma various range of water quality testing and analysis services to fulfil regulatory requirements. Sigma offers advanced methods for water quality testing services which ensures accuracy and quality.
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