Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory-Determination of nonpurgeable suspended organic carbon by wet-chemical oxidation and infrared spectrometry

Precision and accuracy results are described for the determination of nonpurgeable suspended organic carbon (SOC) by silver-filter filtration, wet-chemical oxidation, and infrared determination of hte resulting carbon dioxide (CO2) used at the U.S. Geological Survey's nationalWater Quality Laboratory. An aliquot of raw water isfiltered through a 0.45-micrometer silver filter. The trapped organic material is oxidized using phosphoric acid and potassium persulfate in a scaled glass ampule,and the rseulting CO2 is measured by an infrared CO2 detector. The amount of CO3 is proportional to the concentration of chemically oxidizable nonpurgeable organic carbon in the sample. The SOC method detection limit for routine analysis is 0.2 milligram per liter. The average percent recovery is 97.1 percent and the average standard deviation is 11 percent.