The following precautions shall be taken to insure correct results:
Observations shall be made in the open air, preferably in the middle of the day and not in direct sunlight. The wire shall be kept bright and clean. If for any reason observations cannot be made directly under natural conditions a pail or tank may be filled with water and the observation taken in that, but if this is done care shall be taken that the water is thoroughly stirred before the observation is made, and no vessel shall be used for this purpose unless its diameter is at least twice as great as the depth to which the wire is immersed. Waters which have a turbidity greater than 500 shall be diluted with clear water before the observations are made, but if this is done the degree of dilution shall be reported.
TURBIDIMETRIC METHOD.
Several forms of turbidimeter or diaphanometer[[73]] have been suggested for use. The simplest and most satisfactory form is the candle turbidimeter.[[116]] This consists of a graduated glass tube with a flat polished bottom, enclosed in a metal case. This is supported over an English standard candle and so arranged that one may look vertically down through the tube at the flame of the candle. The observation is made by pouring the sample of water into the tube until the image of the flame of the candle just disappears from view. Care shall be taken not to allow soot or moisture to accumulate on the lower side of the glass bottom of the tube so as to interfere with the accuracy of the observations. The graduations on the tube correspond to turbidities produced in distilled water by certain numbers of parts per million of silica standard. In order to insure uniform results it is necessary to have the distance between the top rim of the candle and the bottom of the tube constant, and this distance shall be 7.6 cm. or 3 inches. The observations shall be made in a darkened room or with a black cloth over the head.
It is allowable to substitute for the candle an electric light. Calibrate the apparatus to correspond with the United States Geological Survey scale. The figures in Table 2 on page [8] are believed to be approximately correct for the candle turbidimeter but should be checked by the experimenter. It is allowable to calibrate the tube of the instrument with waters of known turbidity prepared by making a series of dilutions of the silica standard with distilled water. From the figures obtained in calibrating plot a curve from which the turbidity of a sample may be read when the depth of water in the tube has been obtained.
| Table 2.—Graduation of candle turbidimeter. | |
|---|---|
| Depth of liquid (cm.). | Turbidity (parts per million of silica). |
| 2.3 | 1000 |
| 2.6 | 900 |
| 2.9 | 800 |
| 3.2 | 700 |
| 3.5 | 650 |
| 3.8 | 600 |
| 4.1 | 550 |
| 4.5 | 500 |
| 4.9 | 450 |
| 5.5 | 400 |
| 5.6 | 390 |
| 5.8 | 380 |
| 5.9 | 370 |
| 6.1 | 360 |
| 6.3 | 350 |
| 6.4 | 340 |
| 6.6 | 330 |
| 6.8 | 320 |
| 7.0 | 310 |
| 7.3 | 300 |
| 7.5 | 290 |
| 7.8 | 280 |
| 8.1 | 270 |
| 8.4 | 260 |
| 8.7 | 250 |
| 9.1 | 240 |
| 9.5 | 230 |
| 9.9 | 220 |
| 10.3 | 210 |
| 10.9 | 200 |
| 11.4 | 190 |
| 12.0 | 180 |
| 12.7 | 170 |
| 13.5 | 160 |
| 14.4 | 150 |
| 15.4 | 140 |
| 16.6 | 130 |
| 18.0 | 120 |
| 19.6 | 110 |
| 21.5 | 100 |
The results of turbidity observations shall be expressed in whole numbers which correspond to parts per million of silica and recorded as follows:
| Turbidity between | 1 | and | 50 | recorded to nearest | unit |
| 〃 〃 | 51 | 〃 | 100 | 〃 〃 〃 | 5 |
| 〃 〃 | 101 | 〃 | 500 | 〃 〃 〃 | 10 |
| 〃 〃 | 501 | 〃 | 1000 | 〃 〃 〃 | 50 |
| 〃 〃 | 1001 | 〃 | greater | 〃 〃 〃 | 100 |
COEFFICIENT OF FINENESS[[80]]
The quotient obtained by dividing the weight of suspended matter in the sample by the turbidity, both expressed in the same unit, shall be called the coefficient of fineness. If the quotient is greater than unity the matter in suspension is coarser and if it is less than unity it is finer than the standard.