How To Use The Dissolved Oxygen Test Kit

By Cornelia White


It is normal for people to use the dissolved oxygen test kit. This is especially true if the person wants to identify what the state of an aquatic ecosystem is. The result of this testing will surely help a lot in assessing productivity and pollution within areas like streams, rivers, and lakes. For the testing, here are the steps to follow.

First of all, the person should fill the BOD bottle with sample H2O. One can just dip this bottle to a stream or lake and wait for it to fill up. One should make sure that there are zero air bubbles inside the said bottle too since this will alter the results. If there are some bubbles, just tip the bottle from one side to the other to let them escape.

Get the manganese sulfate and add this using the calibrated pipette. One should insert this pipette underneath the surface of the H2O that one considers testing. Squeeze it slowly as well while securing that there are zero bubbles introduced into the said sample. Otherwise, the results will be altered.

Take note of the alkali-iodide-azide reagent. The individual will have to prepare this since this will be added to the sample. To be able to make use of this reagent, one should use the same technique that one has used when one is adding manganese sulfate into the reagent. It should be easier this time around.

Stopper this bottle as carefully as possible. Also, do not allow any air bubbles to get inside. To check up on this, the bottle should be turned upside down. Do this a few times to easily mix the content. No bubbles should be inside the sample since having bubbles there means one has to discard this sample and start again from scratch.

Add sulfuric acid to one's sample as well. Just like how one has added the other elements into the sample before, one will also have to use the pipette when it comes to adding the sulfuric acid. This time, one needs to tip the acquired pipette above the H2O surface instead of inserting it below. Stopper the bottle and turn it over to mix the contents.

There should be an Erlenmeyer flask prepared beforehand too. The person will then have to place 201ml of the sample solution into the Erlenmeyer flask. Make sure to get the right amount for this to get better results. For the person to get the right amount for the sample solution, utilize a graduated cylinder. After that, add sodium thiosulfate with the pipette to change this into a pale straw color.

This time, one should then add starch solution into the sample. The starch solution should be in the amount of two milliliter. After adding the said solution, this sample should then turn to blue. Continue adding more sodium thiosulfate into the said solution until it becomes a clear color.

One should then record the total amount of the added sodium thiosulfate that one has added into the solution. This is the best way to calculate the O content of this sample. When using the dissolved oxygen test kit, every sodium thiosulfate one has added means that the sample contains one milligram per liter of dissolved oxygen.




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