Cheap Nitrate Monitor??

[VectorAKA]

"If the program has a pH meter that displays readings in millivolts, it can be used with a nitrate probe and no separate nitrate meter is needed. Results are read directly as milligrams per liter." http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/vms57.cfm

was googling about nitrate monitors and came across that....is it true....aren't Ph meters much cheaper?:bounce1:

 

[KCombs]

nice thing about RC is the plethora of pHD's, engineers and the like that trol;l this place.... subscribing just out of curiosity

 

[Spaced Cowboy]

So what I think that is saying is that if you have a nitrate probe already, then all you do is use the software "pH meter display" to measure the values coming out of the nitrate probe, and you don't have to pay for separate software that displays nitrate probe readings.

It doesn't mean you can use a pH meter in place of a nitrate meter - the chemistry they measure is different, ad the two aren't interchangeable.

Simon.

 

[VectorAKA]

So if one had a ph meter that displayed the reding in milivolts you just purchase a probe and not a whole new unit....?

 

[Spaced Cowboy]

So if one had a ph meter that displayed the reding in milivolts you just purchase a probe and not a whole new unit....?

Right, in the same way as if you buy the apogee par sensor; you can read the millivolts from the sensor with a multimeter and multiply by 5 to get the PAR value. That saves you ~$200 over buying the full PAR meter (assuming you have a multimeter, and I guess as long as you can multiply by 5 ).

as far as I knew, though, it was the nitrate sense that was the expensive part.

Simon