Original Article

Determination of salinity in water from

different sources using refractometer
Ishika Priya1

St. Xaviers Girls School, Chaibasa, Jharkhand-833201.

Date of Submission 11 Jan 2017 Date of Acceptance 13 Feb 2017

Abstract

Salinity is the measure of the total amount of salts in gram dissolved per kg of the
water. The level of salt in various type of waters from different sources varies
extensively. It is well known that sea water has a high degree of salinity while fresh
water has a very low amount of salinity. The measurement of salinity can be done
using a simple instrument known as refractometer. The degree of light refracted
from the surface of the refractometer is an index and used to determine the
salinity of a sample. Chanding environment and seasons may also influence the
level of salinity in water. This may affect the life of organism living in that water as
well as the palatability. Hence, the measurements of salinity was done in waters
from various sources with an objective to keep it as a record and then in near
future (2-3 years) the changes in salinity levels may be tested to evaluate the
effect of environment on salinity. Most of the salinity studies were done on the
coastal areas of Chennai city, due to an advantage of fresh water, marine water
repertoires. Among various sources, salinity was highest in the samples collected
along coastal sites followed by backrish waters, swamp areas and the
underground waters.

Key words: salinity, refractometer, sea water, swamp, backrish water

Shishir (Jan – Mar) Vol 1, Issue 1 © 2017. All Rights Reserved, The School Scientist. 1
Introduction

Salinity is the measure of the total

amount of salts in gram dissolved per kg
of the water. Generally it is expressed
practical salinity unit (psu) or in parts per
thousand (ppt). For example, 1 kg of
seawater containing 40 gm of dissolved
salts represents salinity of 40 ppt. The
salt in the seawater basically comes from
the geological processes such as
weathering of the rocks, volcanic
eruptions, etc. Seawater contains six
abundant ions i.e. chloride, sodium,
sulfate, magnesium, calcium, potassium
which make upto 99 % of the all salts
Fig 1. A model of the refractometer: The sample is
along with some major and minor
having salinity 27 PPT as the boundary between
inorganic dissolved substances e.g. blue and white shade lies around 27 PPT.
carbon, bromide, strontium, fluoride,
phosphorous, nitrogen etc. However In the present study, we have measured
amount of these salts varies at the local the salinity of the water taken from
and global scales. The range of salinity in different source in Chennai i.e. Covelong
most part of the ocean lies between 33- rocky shore, Mahaballipuram coast,
37 psu, but the total salinity at several Muttukadu back water, Odiyur lake,
places varies from these range due to Pallikarani swamp and underground
geographical reasons example Baltic Sea water at Perumbakkam.
where the salinity goes below 10 psu or
Materials and Methods
Dead Sea where the salinity is almost 10
times more than average sea. For the experiment following materials
were required: water collection bottles,
Salinity refractometer is a quick and
dropper, distilled water, and salinity
precise method to measure the amount
refractometer.
of salts in the water samples.
Refractometer is based on the principle Sample collection
that the amount of refraction is caused
by the density of any substance, i.e. Sample water was collected in and
higher the density; higher will be the around Chennai in the month of January
refractive index. Refractometer consists 2017, Tamil Nadu at following locations:
of a prism and a beveled, a clear plastic Covelong rocky shore, Mahaballipuram
cover lens each with a known refractive beach near Temple, Muttukadu back
index. Depending on the salinity of the water mouth, Odiyur lake, and
water samples, it will refract the light Pallikaranai swamp areas, Underground
through an angle when placed between water at Perumbakkam. Covelong rocky
two lenses of the refractometer that can shore and Mahaballipuram station
be viewed against light source (fig. 1). represented seawater water,
Muttukaddu and Odiyur Lake
represented backrish water, Pallikarnai

Shishir (Jan – Mar) Vol 1, Issue 1 © 2017. All Rights Reserved, The School Scientist. 2
and underground water represent fresh
water sites. We collected the water
sample in the 50ml amber bottle and
brought to our laboratory.
Salinity measurement
We measured the salinity of the waters
from different sources using salinity
refractometer (ATAGO, MASTER-53Pα,
Japan). The refractometer was carefully
rinsed with distilled water and dry with
clean tissue paper. To calibrate the
instrument, first drops of distilled water
were added and adjusted the scale to
the zero line. Following calibration,
sample water with unknown salinity was
placed one by one and the readings
were recorded. Finally prism and cover
plate was washed with distilled water
and dried with tissue paper.
Result and discussion
Salinty was highest in the samples
collected along coastal sites followed by
backrish waters, swamp areas and the
underground waters. Our measurements
indicated the water at Covelong and
Mahabalipuram had an average of 33.5
and 33 PPT which is in the range of
seawater salinity. Muttukadu back water
showed average salinity of 20 PPT. The
salinity in the Odiyur lake was 16 PPT, in
the swamp area was 2 PPT and
underground water had 1 PPT (fig 2 and
table 1).
Table1: Salinity of sample water collected from
various sources.
Location Salinity
Covelong rocky shore 33.5
Mahaballipuram coast 33
Odiyur lake 16
Muttukadu back water 20
Pallikarani swamp 2
Underground water 1
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Figure 2. The refractometer and screenshots of
the readings for the control, 2 PPT and 20 PPT.
Our measurement was done at only time
point, however salinity is subjected to
change depends on the precipitation and
evaporation. Generally Seawater salinity
is mostly stable, however the salinity in
back water and estuaries are highly
variables. The less salinity in Muttukadu
and Odiyur lake may be due to
measurements were taken in January
when the temperature is not so high in
Chennai. At the same time, city
experiences rain in this month. The
salinity in back waters can vary from 5
PPT to 45 PPT, information given by local
fisherman in that vicinity. The total
dissolved salts in the underground water
were considered as high and require a
treatment before to use for the
household works. Measuring the salinity
is an important physicochemical
parameter in order to maintain the
aquatic plants and animals in the
aquarium either at home or at the
laboratory for the experimental purpose.
High or low salinity can adversely affect
the physiology of the organisms due to
disruption of the osmotic balance.
References
1.
http://www2.fiu.edu/~kpanneer/lab_assignment
/LAB%206%20%20Experiments.pdf
3
About the lead author

Ishika Priya

Ishika Priya is a student of class 11th at St Xavier’s Girls

intermediate college, Chaibasa, Jharkhand. She is enthuastic
and science loving students with keen interest in Chemical
Sciences. She has recently won first prize in school level
Sciecne fair competition. Other than studies she loves to
dance and trekking. .

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