Determination of ammonia in water and industrial effluent streams with the indophenol blue method using sequential injection analysis

A suitable sequential injection analysis (SIA) analyser to monitor water quality in terms of the ammonia content in water and industrial effluent streams was developed. The system is fully computerised and is able to monitor ammonia in samples at a frequency of ca. 16 samples per hour with a relative standard deviation better than 1.8%. The calibration curve is linear between 0 and 50 mg l−1 which falls within the required analyte range. The levels of possible interferants in the water and industrial effluent streams were negligible to cause any interference on the proposed system.