A SIMPLE DEVICE FOR MINIMIZING CONTAMINATION DURING AUTOMATED AMMONIA ANALYSIS

Many water quality laboratories are engaged in analyzing low level, ambient concentrations of ammonia in water. For this type of analysis, automated procedures are widely used. One problem arises, however, in that samples in tubes or cups are exposed before analysis to the atmosphere which is frequently contaminated with ammonia. This leads to the contamination of samples, blanks and standards. The paper reports on a development aimed at alleviating the problem; it consists of a sample tube septum cup which is easily constructed, simple to use and inexpensive.