EPA 9060A Standard test method for total organic carbon in groundwater, surface water and saline water, and domestic and industrial wastes

The EPA 9060A standard issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deals with the standardized determination of total organic carbon (TOC) in aqueous samples, groundwater and surface water, saline water and municipal and industrial wastewater at concentrations of 1 mg/L and above. The standard specifies that the organic carbon must completely be converted into CO₂ by catalytic combustion or wet chemical oxidation. The TOC concentration is then detected either by direct measurement of the resulting CO₂ with an infrared detector, or with a flame ionization detector after conversion to methane.

Measurement of the TOC sum parameter in accordance with EPA 9060A is highly relevant in various areas of environmental analysis. Especially in water and wastewater analysis, the total organic carbon value provides information about contamination with foreign substances. The pollution of surface water, raw water, drinking water and wastewater is subject to certain limits that are set by regulatory authorities and must be checked regularly. In addition, the TOC value is also important for process engineers, as it allows conclusions to be made about plant efficiency in wastewater treatment. 

In terms of its content, the EPA 9060A standard deals specifically with the test setup for TOC determination, including the apparatus, possible interferences, and reagents. Furthermore, it makes concrete specifications about the analysis procedure and quality control.

Analytik Jena offers customized environmental analysis solutions for the precise measurement of the TOC value in accordance with EPA 9060A. The multi N/C x300 series is specially designed for measuring the TOC and TN_b sum parameter, being distinguished by high reproducibility and robustness in the face of complex matrices. 

Our solutions for EPA 9060A

Sources

• Method 9060A: Total Organic Carbon, part of Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods (epa.gov)