Combined membrane–oxythermographic method in the solution of the geochemical problems of migration of material of natural waters

Abstract

Two methods for obtaining information on the fractional composition of organic matter in natural waters (membrane filtration and oxythermography) are combined in this study. The method has a number of indisputable advantages, which distinguish it among the currently available methods of analytical chemistry. In earth science, the fractional composition of organic materials in natural waters is estimated by the concentration of organic carbon (Corg) in fractions. In our opinion, an indicator of chemical consumption of oxygen (CCO) for ecological estimation of water reservoir state is more informative, because this indicator carries specific ecological information on the necessary oxygen consumption for oxidation of pollutants coming into the natural water environment. Therefore, estimation of the CCO parameter in fractions provides real information on the availability of organic matter and the probable danger from its content in water. This is the principal novelty of the information obtained and our study. The method was tested in the study of variation of the fractional composition of water matter during passage of Volga water through the waterworks (upon removal of water from the storage reservoir through the dam of the Ivan’kovskaya hydro power plant in the Dubna area). Analogous results are almost absent in earth science literature. There is a lack of data on the influence of water release through the dam even with respect to the major-component chemical composition. Variation of the fractional composition of matter (both organic and inorganic) upon water release through a waterworks is not discussed in literature. Thus, this study is of fundamental character.