[MEASURMENT OF TURBIDITY]

To measure the turbidity of water:

Turbidity:
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of
individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to
smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality.
OR
Turbidity is a measure of the degree to which the water loses its
transparency due to the presence of suspended particulates.
Turbidity in water:
Turbidity is a measure of water clarity how much the material suspended in
water decreases the passage of light through the water. Suspended materials
include soil particles (clay, silt, and sand), algae, plankton, microbes, and
other substances.
Significance of measuring Turbidity:
Turbidity is an important indicator of the amount of suspended sediment
in water, which can have many negative effects on aquatic life. The
suspended sediments that cause turbidity can block light to aquatic plants,
smother aquatic organisms, and carry contaminants and pathogens, such as
lead, mercury, and bacteria.
Causes of Turbidity:

Turbidity in open water may be caused by growth of phytoplankton.

Human
activities
that
disturb
land,
such
as construction, mining and agriculture,
can
lead
to
high
sediment levels entering water bodies during rain storms due to storm
water runoff.
Areas prone to high bank erosion rates as well as urbanized areas also
contribute large amounts of turbidity to nearby waters, through storm
water pollution from paved surfaces such as roads, bridges and parking
lots.
Certain industries such as quarrying, mining and coal recovery can
generate very high levels of turbidity from colloidal rock particles.

Effects of Turbidity:
Disadvantages:

In water bodies such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs, high turbidity

levels can reduce the amount of light reaching lower depths, which can

Department of Environmental Engineering, UET TAXILA

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[MEASURMENT OF TURBIDITY]
inhibit growth of submerged aquatic plants and consequently affect
species which are dependent on them, such as fish and shell fish.
High turbidity levels can also affect the ability of fish gills to absorb
dissolved oxygen. This phenomenon has been regularly observed
throughout the Chesapeake Bay in the eastern United States.
In drinking water, the higher the turbidity level, the higher the risk that
people may develop gastrointestinal diseases. This is especially
problematic for immunocompromised people, because contaminants
like viruses or bacteria can become attached to the suspended solids.
The
suspended
solids
interfere
with
water
disinfection
with chlorine because the particles act as shields for the virus and
bacteria.
Advantages:

For many mangrove areas, high turbidity is needed to support certain

species, such as to protect juvenile fish from predators. For most
mangroves along the eastern coast of Australia, in particular Moreton
Bay, turbidity levels as high as 600 Nephlumetric Turbidity Units (NTU)
are needed for proper ecosystem health.

Measurement of Turbidity:
Nephelometer:
A nephelometer is an instrument for measuring concentration of suspended
particulates in a liquid or gas colloid. A nephelometer measures suspended
particulates by employing a light beam (source beam) and a light
detector set to one side (often 90) of the source beam. Particle density is
then a function of the light reflected into the detector from the particles. To
some extent, how much light reflects for a given density of particles is
dependent upon properties of the particles such as their shape, color,
and reflectivity

Formazine primary standard:

Defining a unit of measure and a relative calibration scale was a key
development in turbidity measurement. The major remaining difficulty was
that the standard suspension could not be formulated repeatedly when using
natural materials from different sources. Many organic and inorganic
substances were proposed for use in preparing a primary turbidity standard.
Formazine, a polymer suspension, was proposed for the role as early as
1926.
Department of Environmental Engineering, UET TAXILA

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[MEASURMENT OF TURBIDITY]
Formazine has several desirable characteristics that make it an excellent
analytical standard. First, it can be reproducibly prepared from assayed raw
materials. Second, the physical characteristics make it a desirable lightscatter calibration standard. The formazine polymer consists of several
different length chains which fold into random configurations.

Formazine primary standard consists of five samples of known turbidity.

These samples are used for calibration purposes. The turbidity of these
samples are the following
Table 1
Samples no
1
2
3
4
5

Turbidity (NTU)
0.1
20
200
1000
4000

.
WHO guidelines:

World Health Organization, establishes that the turbidity of drinking

water should not be more than 5 NTU.
Pakistan EPA also follow this standard.

Procedure:

Turn on the instrument and allow it to warm up for 2-3 minutes.

Wash the sample cell with distilled water.
Wipe it with lint free cloth (wipe it with tissue paper).
Now wipe it with silicon oil whose refractive index is same with glass.

Calculations:
Table 2
Sample
Muddy water
Tape water

Turbidity (NTU)
6.55
1.48

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[MEASURMENT OF TURBIDITY]
Precautions:

Sample cell should be washed with distilled water.

Sample should be thoroughly mix before measurement.
Note down the highest reading.

Comments:
From the above results it is clearly shown that tape water have low turbidity
which is 1.48 NTU as compared to muddy water which have turbidity of 6.55
NTU .That shows that the water have high turbidity which have high
concentration of suspended substances

Department of Environmental Engineering, UET TAXILA

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