Simultaneous determination of common inorganic anions, magnesium and calcium ions in various environmental waters by indirect UV-photometric detection ion chromatography using trimellitic acid–EDTA as eluent Original Research Article

Indirect photometric detection ion chromatography (IPD-IC) using trimellitic acid (1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid)–EDTA (ethylenediamine-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid) as the eluent was investigated for the simultaneous determination of common inorganic anions (Cl−, NO−2, NO−3 and SO2−4), total carbonate (HCO−3), Mg2+ and Ca2+ in various environmental water samples. When using 0.5 mM trimellitic acid–0.25 mM EDTA as the eluent at pH 6.0 and a 15 cm anion-exchange column (TSKguardgel QAE-SW), highly sensitive and excellent separation for these anions and cations was achieved in 15 min. The proposed IC method was successfully applied to the evaluation of water quality of various environmental water samples.