Evidence indicates a test of electrical conductivity can measure water quality

Mar 8, 2014 02:16 GMT  ·  By
Researchers say a simple electrical conductivity test can help measure water pollution levels
   Researchers say a simple electrical conductivity test can help measure water pollution levels

When it comes to keeping tabs on potential threats to public health and wildlife, monitoring water quality is pretty much mandatory.

The trouble is that, presently, the tests that researchers are supposed to carry out in order to pin down water pollution levels in certain regions are fairly complex and therefore time-consuming.

Also, rumor has it that they might be the reason why not that many people decide to make a career in scientific research.

The good news is that, if the authors of a new paper in the Journal of Tropical and Agricultural Sciences are right, then measuring pollution levels might actually be as simple as zapping water.

Thus, in this paper, scientists with the Universiti Putra Malaysia argue that, according to their investigations into the matter at hand, a simple test of electrical conductivity can serve as a parameter for water quality.

This test has been used to test for water pollution levels in the past. However, the folks who turned to it did so to measure pollution levels in still water lakes and not in running rivers.

However, the Universiti Putra Malaysia specialists argue that the test can also be used to measure water pollution in tropical rivers.

In order to determine just how reliable the electrical conductivity test would be when assigned such a task, the researchers used it to make observations concerning water pollution levels in several areas along the Malaysian Langat river.

More precisely, they regularly collected water samples from as many as eight different sites in both polluted and unpolluted areas, and then subjected these samples to the electrical conductivity test.

It was thus discovered that the water samples taken from contaminated areas did in fact have a higher electrical conductivity, chiefly because of dissolved oxygen and suspended solids.

“Yap CK, from Universiti Putra Malaysia, took nine periodic samplings at eight sites along the Malaysian Langat river, including both polluted downstream and unpolluted upstream sites,” Science Daily explains.

Furthermore, “The results show that there are consistently higher levels of electrical conductivity in the more polluted downstream, and this was in line with two current measures – dissolved oxygen and suspended solids.”

Hence, the researchers theorize that the electrical conductivity test can serve as a reliable parameter for water quality, and thus make it easier for researchers to keep tabs on pollution levels in certain regions.

Interestingly enough, the Universiti Putra Malaysia explains that, with the help of this test, one can even collect information concerning the presence of sulfate, bicarbonate, and chlorides of calcium, magnesium, and sodium in water.