Bellingen Riverwatch Online Water Quality Monitoring Manual
Part 2. Can be done at the river or at home / school

2.3.3.1. Grey EC Meter Test

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Equipment :

  • 500ml water sample

  • 500𝝻S/cm (Low) Calibration Standard OR 12,880𝝻S/cm (High) Calibration Standard

  • Distilled water

  • Grey Electrical Conductivity Meter

  • Latex gloves

  • Safety glasses

  • Specimen container

1. Rinse out a specimen container with sample water at least twice, or test straight from the sample bottle.

2. Pour sample water into the specimen container to a depth of 3 cm.

3. Remove the bottom EC meter cap and turn it on. Wait until a ‘0’ appears on screen.

4. Dip the meter into the container so that the probes are covered. Only immerse the probes of the meter in the water.

Important - Do not rest the probes on the base of the container as this will give an inaccurate reading.

5. Hold the meter in the sample water and swirl gently, so that the sample water, container and meter move.

Allow time for the number value to display and stabilise on one reading and the stopwatch icon  shows onscreen.

Important - If the reading reads ‘Or’ this means over range – contact your Coordinator and go to Part 2.3.4 find out how to do a dilution with distilled water.

6. Read the result from the meter screen with it still in the water.

7. Identify the unit of measurement that the meter is reading (μS/cm or mS/m). 

8. Pass to others to verify the result, if you’re part of a group.

9. Remove EC meter from water sample.

10. Turn the meter off and record your result.

Tip: This meter also measures temperature of your sample water. You can write your temperature down from the EC meter, or use the thermometer as normal.

Packup

  • Rinse the probes in distilled water.

  • Blow on the probes or allow to dry in the air.

  • Important - Do not wipe the probes of the meter.

  • Replace the cap on the meter.

  • Electrical Conductivity (EC) is the measure of the ability of water to conduct an electric current and depends upon the number of ions or charged particles in the water. EC is an indirect method of measuring salinity and includes the measurements of all salts and organic acids. Many species can only survive in a very narrow range of salt concentration.

    The unit of measurement for electrical conductivity is expressed in either micro Siemens per centimetre (µS/cm) or milli Siemens per centimetre (mS/cm).