Turbidity

Turbidity is a cloudiness or haziness in water (or other liquid) caused by individual particles that are too small to be seen without magnification, thus being much like smoke in air. Liquids can contain suspended solid matter consisting of particles of many different sizes (see suspended solids). While some suspended material will be large enough and heavy enough to settle rapidly to the bottom of a container if a liquid sample is left to stand (the settleable solids), very small particles will settle only very slowly or not at all if the sample is regularly agitated or the particles are colloidal. These small solid particles cause the liquid to appear turbid.

There are several practical ways of quantifying cloudiness in water, the most direct being some measure of attenuation (that is, reduction in strength) of light as it passes through a sample column of water. The now little-used Jackson Candle method (units: Jackson Turbidity Unit or JTU) is essentially the inverse measure of the length of a column of water needed to completely obscure a candle flame viewed through it. The more water needed (the longer the water column), the clearer the water. Of course water alone produces some attentuation, and any substances dissolved in the water that produce color can attenuate some wavelengths. Modern instruments do not use candles, but this approach of attenuation of a light beam through a column of water should be calibrated and reported in JTUs.

A property of the particles — that they will scatter a light beam focused on them — is considered a more meaningful measure of turbidity in water. Turbidity measured this way uses an instrument called a nephelometer with the detector setup to the side of the light beam. More light reaches the detector if there are lots of small particles reflecting the source beam than if there are few. The units of turbidity from a calibrated nephelometer are called Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU). To some extent, how much light reflects for a given amount of particulates is dependent upon properties of the particles like their shape, color, and reflectivity. For this reason (and the reason that heavier particles settle quickly and do not contribute to a turbidity reading), a correlation between turbidity and TSS is somewhat unique for each location or situation.

Turbidity in lakes, reservoirs, and the ocean can be measured using a Secchi disk. This black and white disk is lowered into the water until it can no longer be seen; the depth (secchi depth)is then recorded as a measure of the transparency of the water (inversely related to turbidity). The Secchi disk has the advantages of integrating turbidity over depth (where variable turbidity layers are present), being quick and easy to use, and inexpensive. It can provide a rough indication of the depth of the euphotic zone with a 3-fold multiplication of the secchi depth. However, this cannot be used in shallow waters where the disk can still be seen on the bottom.

There are frequently standards on the allowable turbidity in drinking water. In the United States (as of 2003) the allowable standard is 1 NTU, with many drinking water utilities striving to achieve levels as low as 0.1 NTU.

See also: nephelometer, water purification