Monitoring Drinking Water Quality with the PlasmaQuant MS Application Note · PlasmaQuant MS

Introduction

Fresh drinking water is needed for life as well as being a valuable source of vital minerals for health. Water for consumption is sourced from various resources including surface fresh waters, ground water and even seawater. The source often dictates the level of pre-treatment required before it is considered safe for consumption. While groundwater is naturally filtered and may only require minimal pre-treatment, converting seawater to potable water involves a much more complex and intrusive process including desalination, disinfection, water conditioning and remineralization. Through the course of any water treatment, contaminants and nutrients will either be removed or added and those not demineralized may still undergo significant changes in their mineral content due to the treatment processes. Corrosion of plumbing material can also be a source of toxic metal contamination that can have adverse effects on human health.

ICP-MS has become the technique of choice for the monitoring of drinking waters. The fast, multi-element capability allows large numbers of samples to be routinely analyzed. While the ability to accurately quantify from ultra-trace to major levels means toxic metals, minerals and other contaminants can be determined within a single measurement.

The analysis of drinking water by ICP-MS is an uncomplicated application where regulated limits are easily reached. The various interference management systems available today remove many common spectroscopic interferences providing simple and routine analysis. Demand from water quality testing laboratories is for faster turnaround times, greater productivity and reduced operating costs.

The PlasmaQuant® MS offers fast, multi-element and interference-free analysis although with one noticeable difference. Robust plasma conditions suitable for drinking water analysis are achieved with only 7.5  L/min of plasma (coolant) gas. The integrated Collision Reaction Cell (iCRC) provides fast and effective removal of spectroscopic interferences using the optimum collision or reaction gas for the job. Allowing the lowest possible detection limits to be achieved for each element. The high pressure/low volume reaction zone also means switching between gas modes takes only seconds.