Solids, Colour, Turbidity

& Conductivity
Presented by:
M S Bhatti
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

December 7, 2021 1
 Physical characteristics:
2

 Solids: floating, settable, colloidal, dissolved

 Odour

 Temperature

 Density or specific gravity

 Colour

 Turbidity

December 7, 2021
TDS with conductivity
Suspended solids with turbidity in settled
secondary effluent.

How they are related

December 7, 2021 3
December 7, 2021 4
December 7, 2021 5
 Solids
• Total solids at 103 to 105 C
• Total dissolved solids at 180 C for clean water
• Volatile solid analysis at 550 C to measure the
biological activity (MLSS & MLVSS) in municipal
sludge.

December 7, 2021 6
1. Total Solids dried at 103 to 105 degree C

2. Total dissolved solids dried at 180 C

3. Total Suspended Solids at 103-105 C
4. Fixed & Volatile Solids Ignited at 550 C
5. Settleable solids for semisolids &
sludge

December 7, 2021 7
Significance of Solids
• Water with high dissolved solids are of inferior quality
– A limit of 500 mg/l is desirable in drinking water
• Highly mineralized water is also unsuitable for many industrial
applications
• Water with high suspended solids may be aesthetically
unsatisfactory (for bathing!)
• Solids analysis is important
– in the control of biological and physical wastewater treatment
processes
– for assessing compliance with regulatory requirements
• Fixed and volatile solids are used to represent active biomass
in the mixed liquor in activated sludge process
– Volatile and fixed solids do not precisely distinguish organic and
inorganic matter –many mineral salts also volatilize

8 December 7, 2021
Solids
Total solids (TS): Material residue left behind after evaporation
of a sample and its subsequent drying in a oven at a defined
temperature to constant weight
Total suspended solids (TDS): Portion of the material residue of
a sample retained by a filter
Total dissolved solids (TDS): Portion of the material residue of a
sample that passes through a filter
Fixed solids: Residue of TS or TSS or TDS left after ignition for a
specified time at a specified temperature
Volatile solids: weight loss on ignition
Settleable solids: Material settling out of suspension within a
defined period

December 7, 2021 9
 Temperature and duration of drying
10

 Temperature at which the residue is dried and duration of

drying are very important - influences
 Weight loss due to volatilization of organic matter
 Weight loss from loss of mechanically occluded water and
water of crystallization
 Weight loss from loss of gases (heating converts
bicarbonates into carbonates and release CO2, and
decomposes carbonate to release CO2)
 Weight loss from chemical decomposition and weight gain
from oxidation
 Usually duration of drying is adjusted to obtain constant
weight of the residue
December 7, 2021
 Temperature and duration of drying

• Drying temperatures in practice

• 103-105C

• 180±2C

• For estimating fixed solids the residue is

usually ignited at 550±50C to constant
weight in a muffle furnace
December 7, 2021 11
 Sample handling, preservation and preparation

• If acceptable, avoid large floating particles or submerged

agglomerates of non-homogenous materials while sampling
• Resistant glass or plastic bottles, provided the material in
suspension of the sample does not adhere to walls, are used for
holding the samples
• Analysis of samples is started as soon as possible (impractical to
preserve sample)
• To minimize microbiological decomposition refrigerate sample at 4
C
• Before taking sample disperse floating oil and grease with a blender
• Choose sample size/volume to give 2.5 to 200 mg of residue

December 7, 2021 12
 Sample handling, preservation and preparation

Evaporation dishes of 100 mL capacity of one of

the following material are used:
– Porcelain (9 cm dia.)
– Platinum
– High silica glass

December 7, 2021 13
 Sample handling & preparation
Preparation of the evaporation dish
– Heat clean dish to 103-105C/180±2C/550±50C for 1 hour
depending on the temperature of drying and on the need for
ignition of the residue
– Storing the heated dish in desiccator until needed
– Weighing the dish immediately before use for initial weight -
balance capable of weighing to 0.1 mg is required

Transfer measured volume of well mixed sample into pre-weighed dish

and evaporate to dryness on a steam bath or drying oven
– For evaporation in a oven, use temperature 2C below boiling
point to prevent splattering

December 7, 2021 14
Sample evaporation, and drying to constant
weight and ignition of residue

Once evaporated to dryness, dry the sample at least for 1

hour in a oven at 103-105C or 180±2C as required and
cool the dish in a desiccator to balance temperature and
weight

Use repeat cycles of drying, cooling in desiccator and

weighing until constant weight.
– Weight loss <4% or 0.5 mg whichever is less between
two successive drying cycles is acceptable

December 7, 2021 15
Fixed & Volatile Solids ignited at 550 C

Ignite the dried residue of the dish to constant weight in a

muffle furnace at 550±50C
– Raise the furnace temperature to desired level prior to
inserting the sample and ignite for 15-20 minutes
– Air cool the dish partially and then transfer into
desiccator for final cooling in dry atmosphere, then
weight the dish
– Use repeat cycles of drying, cooling in desiccator and
weighing until constant weight is obtained

December 7, 2021 16
 Total solids
Well mixed sample is evaporated in a weighed dish and dried to
constant weight in a oven at 103-105C
Increase in weight of dish represents total solids

Total solids (mg / L) 

 A  B  1000 B is weight of empty dish
Sample volume (mL) A is weight of dish with residue

December 7, 2021 17
 Total dissolved solids
Filter well mixed sample through a fiber filter and evaporate filtrate in
weighed dish and dry to constant weight at 180±2C
– Filtrate from TSS determination can also be used
Increase in dish weight represents TDS
TDS ( mg / L) 
 A  B   1000 B is weight of empty dish
Sample volume ( mL) A is weight of dish with residue

• Highly mineralized samples may require prolonged drying, proper

desiccation and rapid weighing
– Significant concentrations of calcium, magnesium, chloride and/or
sulfate can be hygroscopic and cause problem
• Samples high in bicarbonate may require careful and prolonged
drying to ensure complete conversion to carbonate
• Glass fiber filter disks, filtration apparatus with membrane filter
funnel or Gooch crucible, and suction flask may be needed
December 7, 2021 18
 Total suspended solids
• Filter well mixed sample through a weighed standard glass fiber
filter and dry the residue retained on the filter to constant weight
at 103-105C
– In case of filter clogging and prolonged duration of filtration take
difference of TS and TDS as TSS
Increase in dish weight is represented by
TSS (mg / L) 
 A  B  1000 B is weight of empty dish
Sample volume (mL) A is weight of dish with residue

• In case of samples with high dissolved solids, thoroughly wash the

filter to ensure removal of dissolved material
• Clogging and prolonged filtration can produce high results due
excessive solids capture
December 7, 2021 19
 Fixed and volatile solids

• Dried residue left in the dish during TS, TDS and TSS is ignited to
constant weight at 550±50C in a muffle furnace
• Solids left after ignition represent fixed solids (total fixed solids
from TS, total dissolved fixed solids from TDS and total suspended
fixed solids from TSS)
• Fixed solids can be calculated by

Fixed solids (mg / L) 

 B  C  1000
Sample volume (mL )

B is weight of dish after ignition

C is weight of the empty dish

December 7, 2021 20
 Fixed and volatile solids

• Weight lost on ignition represent volatile solids (total

volatile solids from TS, total dissolved volatile solids from
TDS and total suspended volatile solids from TSS)

Volatile solids (mg / L) 

 A  B  1000
Sample volume (mL)

B is weight of dish after ignition

A is weight of dish after drying

December 7, 2021 21
 Settleable solids
Determined & reported on either volume (mL/L) or weight (mg/L)
basis
Measurement on volume basis requires an Imhoff cone
– Fill Imhoff cone to 1-L mark with sample and settle for 45 min.
– Gently stir sides of the cone with a rod by spinning and settle for
another 15 minutes
– Record volume of the settled solids in the Imhoff cone
Measurement on weight basis (indirect method)
– Determine total suspended solids of well mixed sample
– Pour >1-L of sample into a glass vessel of >9 cm dia. to depth >20cm
– Let it stand quiescent for one hour
– Without disturbing settled or floating material siphon out 250 ml from
vessel center and determine its TSS as non-Settleable TSS
Settleable solids = TSS – non-Settleable TSS
December 7, 2021 22
 Sludge volume index (SVI)
• Volume in mL occupied by 1 g of a suspension after 30 min. settling
settled sludge volume (mL / L)  1000
SVI 
suspended solids concentration (mg / L)

• Applications:
1. Used to monitor settling characteristics of activated sludge and other
biological suspensions
2. Determined for the mixed liquor of the aeration tank of the ASP
3. Determine SS concentration of a well mixed sample of suspension
4. Determine the 30 min. settled sludge volume

December 7, 2021 23
 Applications of solids data in
Environmental Engineering:

• Suitability of potential supplies

• Need for water softening
• Corrosion control through pH adjustment
which depends on solids
• Design of Primary sedimentation tank

December 7, 2021 24
 Turbidity
measures the light transmitting
properties of water
December 7, 2021 25
 Turbidity
• Water quality standard: < 5 NTU
• Indicates clarity of water
• Optical property due to the presence of colloidal matter like
– Clay, silt, finely divided organic and inorganic matter, plankton
and other microscopic organisms etc.
• Causes light to be scattered and absorbed
• Clarity of water is important for
– Producing products destined for human consumption
– Potability
– Water bodies condition and productivity
• Coagulation, settling and filtration are needed for the
removal of turbidity and clarity of water

December 7, 2021 26
 Significance of Turbidity
• Aesthetic
• Filterability: Slow and rapid sand filter
• Hindrance in Disinfection

December 7, 2021 27
 Principle of Nephlometric Turbidity:

• For measurement intensity of light scattered in one

particular direction (at right angles to the light path)
by the sample under defined conditions is compared
with that by a standard reference suspension under
the same conditions

December 7, 2021 28
 Nephelometer: Principle & Operation
• A light source - tungsten filament lamp (now IR lamp for
coloured samples)
• Photoelectric detector and a readout device
– Should have spectral peak response between 400-600 nm
• Sample tube
– should be of colourless glass
– should be devoid of scratches or etches
– Light (both incident and scattered) travel distance through the
sample should be <10 cm
• Sensitivity should be <0.02 NTU
• Should allow several ranges of turbidity measurement
(0-1; 0-10; 0-100; 0-1000)

December 7, 2021 29
 Turbidity measurement
• Should be measured on the same day of sampling
– If unavoidable sample can be stored in dark up to 24 hours
– Storage for longer periods can cause irreversible changes in
turbidity
• Sample free of debris and rapidly settling coarse sediments,
after vigorous shaking, should be transferred into sample
tube
• Dirty glassware, presence of air bubbles and vibrations can
affect the results
• Water colour due to dissolved substances that absorb
colour can lower the turbidity measurement ??
• Higher the intensity of the scattered light higher is the
turbidity

December 7, 2021 30
 Standard unit of turbidity:
• Initially 1 mg SiO2/l = 1 unit of turbidity
• Now Formazin polymer suspension is used
• Preparation of standard stock suspension
• Dissolve 1.000 g of hydrazine sulfate, (NH2)2.H2SO4 (carcinogenic), in
turbidity free water and dilute to 100 ml
• Dissolve 10.000 g hexamethylene tetramine, (CH4)6NH4, in turbidity
free water and dilute to 100 ml
• Mix 5 ml of hydrazine sulfate solution and 5 ml of hexamethylene
tetramine solution in a 100 ml volumetric flask and allow it to stand
for 24 hours at 25±3C
• Dilute the mixer with turbidity free water to 100 ml to obtain
standard stock suspension of 400 NTU turbidity
– Can stand for one month
– Can be used for daily preparation of standard reference suspensions
of other turbidities (dilute with turbidity free water)

December 7, 2021 31
 Turbidity measurement
• Calibration of the turbidity meter:
– Follow manufacturer’s instructions
– Run at least one standard reference suspension in each of the ranges
• Turbidity measurement
– When turbidity expected is <40 NTU measure turbidity of the sample
directly
– When expected turbidity is >40 NTU dilute the sample to get 30-40
NTU range of turbidity and then measure

A is NTU measured of diluted sample

A  (B  C)
NTU  B is volume of the diluted sample
C C is volume of the sample diluted

December 7, 2021 32
Application of turbidity data:

December 7, 2021 33
 Colour
Reflects age of the wastewater: light
brownish gray to gray and then to
black (anaerobic conditions) also
known as septic conditions
December 7, 2021 34
 Colour
35

Could be due to the presence of natural metallic ions

(iron and manganese), humus and peat materials,
plankton, weeds and industrial wastes
True colour: colour of water from which turbidity has
been removed
Apparent colour: includes the colour contributed by
colloidal and suspended matter
Usually visual comparison method is used for potable
water
Instrumental methods (spectrophotometric method) are
appropriate for unusual colours of industrial wastes

December 7, 2021
 Iron gives colour in water supply
 Surface water is more coloured
 Colour intensity increases with increase in
pH. Recording pH with colour is advised.
 Industries like dye, textile, pulp & paper
produce wide varieties of colour

December 7, 2021 36
37
Pretreatment of sample
• Needed to remove turbidity prior to colour
determination.
• Centrifugation and filtration can be used for the
pretreatment.
• Filtration can remove some of the true colour
• Results of centrifugation may vary with sample
nature and size and speed of the centrifuge
• The pretreatment method used should be reported
with the results.
December 7, 2021
 Colour comparator by Nessler tubes:

December 7, 2021 38
 Visual comparison method
39

• Good for potable water and for water with colour

due to naturally occurring materials
• Sample colour is compared with the known
concentrations of coloured solutions or with special
properly calibrated glass colour discs.
• One unit of colour is produced by 1 mg of platinum
(K2PtCl6) per liter in the form of chloroplatinate
ion.

December 7, 2021
 Standard colour solution:
• Colour standard of 500 units colour is prepared by dissolving
1.246 g K2PtCl6 (equivalent to 500 mg of metallic platinum)
and 1.000 g of crystallized cobaltous chloride CoCl2.6H2O in
distilled water and 100 ml of HCl and adjusting final volume to
1000 ml
• From this colour standards desired colour is prepared by
dilution with distilled water
• Colour of the glass discs are also calibrated with the colour
standards of platinum-cobalt

December 7, 2021 40
Requirements

• Filtration system comprising of filtration flasks, filter

crucible of 40 µm pore size, crucible holder, calcined filter
aid and vacuum system
• Spectrophotometer with effective operating range of 400-
700 nm and absorption cells of 10 mm light path
• Filtered sample is used.
• Results are expressed in terms of dominant wavelength/ on
the basis of this hue of the sample.
• Luminance
• Purity

December 7, 2021 41
Colour hues for dominant wavelengths
Dominant wavelength Hue
range
400-465 Violet
465-482 Blue
482-497 Blue-green
497-530 Green
530-575 Greenish yellow

575-580 Yellow
580-587 Yellowish orange

587-598 Orange
598-620 Orange-red
620-700 red
December 7, 2021 42
 Steps in Spectrophotometric method
• Take two portions of 50 ml for sample.
• Adjust pH of one portion to 7.6 (should not change volume by
beyond 3%)
• Remove suspended solids by centrifuging
• Prepare each of the two portions of the sample through filtration
• Assemble the filtration set-up
• Prepare suspension of 0.1 g of calcinated filter aid in 10 ml of
sample and filter through the filter crucible for forming precoat in
the crucible
• To 35 ml of the sample add 40 mg of calcinated filter aid and filter
through precoat crucible while applying vacuum
• Waste the filtrate as long as it is not clear and after that collect 25
ml filtrate

December 7, 2021 43
 Spectrophotometric method
• Measure light transmittance of the filtered sample on
spectrophotometer
• Clean an absorption cell with detergent and rinse first with
distilled water and then with filtered sample twice and fill
the cell with sample
• Clean the exterior of the cell with lens paper and transfer
the cell to spectrophotometer
• Measure transmittance after setting 100% transmittance on
distilled water blank at the three different wavelengths
against each of the 10 or 30 ordinate numbers
• Tabulate the transmittance values under X,Y and Z columns
against the ordinate numbers

December 7, 2021 44
Ordinates for spectrophotometric colour determinations
Ordinate No. X Y Z
Wavelength (nm)
2 435.5 489.5 422.2
5 461.2 515.2 432
8 544.3 529.8 438.6
11 564.1 541.4 444.4
14 577.4 551.8 450.1
17 588.7 561.9 455.9
20 599.6 572.5 462.0
23 610.9 584.8 468.7
26 624.2 600.8 477.7
29 645.9 627.3 495.2
Multiplying 0.09806 0.10000 0.11814
factor
December 7, 2021 45
 Spectrophotometric method:
Find tristimulus values X, Y and Z by summing up transmittances
under X, Y and Z columns and multiplying with appropriate
factor
The tristimulus value Y is percent luminance
Find trichromatic coefficients x and y by
X Y
x y
X Y  Z X Y  Z
Using chromaticity diagram determine dominant wavelength
and purity (in percent) corresponding to the trichromatic
coefficient values x and y
Using the table of colour hues for dominant wavelength ranges
find colour hue corresponding to the dominant wavelength

December 7, 2021 46
 Expression of results:

• Express colour characteristics (as pH 7.6 and

at original pH) in terms of dominant
wavelength (nm), luminance & purity along
with spectrophotometer, bandwidth and
number of selected ordinates 30/10.

December 7, 2021 47
 Conductivity

December 7, 2021 48
 Conductivity
• Numerical expression of the ability of an aqueous solution to
carry electric current
• Depends on the presence and concentration of ions and their
valence and mobility and temperature
– Inorganic acids, bases and their salts are relatively good
conductors
– Organic molecules are in general poor conductors
• Actually resistance is measured and reciprocal of it is taken as
conductance

December 7, 2021 49
 Conductivity: Units of expression
• Expressed in reciprocal ohms or mhos or
µmhos/cm
– In SI units it is expressed in Siemens
(milliSiemens/meter)
– 1 mS/m = 10 µmhos/cm
• Temperature affects conductivity
– increases by 1.9% per every 1C temperature increase
in of standard KCl solution

• Conductivity is measured and expressed at 25C

December 7, 2021 50
 Conductivity meter: Instrument detail
• Includes a source of alternate current, Wheatstone bridge, null
indicator and conductivity cell, and thermometer of 23-27C range
to nearest 0.1C
– Range can be checked with standard KCl solutions
• Conductivity cell can be platinum electrode type or a non-platinum
electrode type
• Platinum electrode type
– In case of new cells, electrodes need cleaning (chromic-sulfuric acid
mixture) and platinizing before use
– In case of erratic readings, electrodes need cleaning and re-platinizing
– When not in use thoroughly rinse the electrodes and keep inserted in
distilled water
• Non-platinum electrode type
– Durable common metals like stainless steel electrodes
– Need calibration
Error of measurement should be <1% or 1 µmhos/cm
December 7, 2021 51
 Standard potassium chloride solution
• Conductivity water is used for preparing KCl solution and for
various other purposes in the experiment
– Should have <1 µmhos/cm conductivity
• 1M 111,900 µmhos/cm
• 0.1 M 12,900 µmhos/cm
• 0.01 M 1,413 µmhos/cm
• 0.001 M 147 µmhos/cm
• 0.0001 M 14.94 µmhos/cm
Standard potassium chloride solution
– 0.01M KCl solution - 745.6 mg anhydrous KCl solution in
conductivity water in one liter of final volume
– Stored in glass-stopper borosilicate glass bottle.
December 7, 2021 52
 Conductivity measurement
Rinse the cell with two or three portions of sample
Adjust sample’s temperature to 25±0.1C
Measure sample’s resistance (Rm) and temperature (tC)
Estimate conductivity at 25C of the sample by
1,000,000  C
K
Rm 1  0.0191 t  25 
Conductivity measured at tC (Km) can be corrected to conductivity at
25C (K) by
K m 1,000,000  C
K
1  0.0191 t  25

Here temperature coefficient of water sample is considered same that

of standard KCl solution
December 7, 2021 53
 Observations:
 Fresh distilled water has 0.5 to 2 µmhos/cm
 With storing it increases to 2-4 µmhos/cm due to CO2
and even ammonia absorption
 Conductivity of potable water is in the range of 50-1500
micro mho/cm
 Industrial wastewaters conductivity can be even >10000
micro mho/cm
 Conductivity measurement is used
1. To signal exhaustion of ion-exchange resins
2. For rapid determination of large changes in inorganic content
of waters and wastewaters
 Dissolved solids concentration is related to conductivity
by an empirical multiplying factor (0.55 to 0.9)
December 7, 2021 54
 THANKS

December 7, 2021 55