1.

0 Introduction

The wastewater is created when the water is spent or used with dissolved or suspended
solids also discharged from communities, homes, industrial, homes, commercial
establishments, and farms. According to Sincero et all in their writing, wastewater are
divided into two categories which are sanitary and non-sanitary wastewater or called also
as sanitary sewage. The sanitary wastewaters are wastewaters that have been
contaminated with human wastes.

Meanwhile, non-sanitary wastewater is usually includes waste from the industry.The water
and wastewater need to have treatment in order to remove as much of the suspended
solids, organic matter, nutrients, and disease-causing organisms before the remaining water
is discharged back to the environment. Besides that, the waste water also may contain
heavy metal. Untreated wastewater will contains high level of organic material,
microorganisms, toxic compounds as well as numerous pathogenic and give the adverse
effects whether to environment, humans or animals depending on types and concentration
of waste.
Nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) and ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) are primary indicators of water
quality. Ammonia comes from sewage and landfill leachate. It is very toxic to aquatic life.
High concentrations of these nutrients may indicate a well construction problem or an
environmental impact in the vicinity of the water supply. Nitrate and ammonium nitrogen
are measured for all surface and ground water samples. High concentrations of these
nutrients may require follow-up sampling to confirm the status of the water supply. Most
plants have a high tolerance for nitrate and ammonium nitrogen and utilize these forms
efficiently. The recommended upper limit of nitrate nitrogen for human consumption is 10
ppm. Most surface and ground water ideally contains less than 3 ppm nitrate nitrogen.

2.0 Objective
The main goal of this experiment is to determine ammonia-nitrogen as well as nitratenitrogen in the sample water (tempurung cave). This is to determine the amount and
composition of ammonia-nitrogen in the sample water (Tempurung cave).

3.0 Apparatus and Materials

1. spectrophotometers
2. sample cells (25 mL) with appropriate stoppers
3. Graduated cylinder (25 mL)
4. Pipette (1.0mL)

4.0 Procedure
1. 25 mL mixing graduated cylinder was filled to the 25 mL mark with standard
2. Another 25 mL of graduated cylinder was filled with deionised water
3. Three drops of mineral stabilizer were added to each cylinder .Each cylinder was
inverted for a several times
4. Three drops of polyvinyl alcohol dispersing agent were added to each cylinder .
5. 1.0 mL of Nessler reagent was pippeted into each cylinder
6. The soft key under start timer was pressed. A 1 minute reaction period begun.
7. Each solution was poured into 10 mL sample cell
8. The blank was placed into the cell holder when the time beeps
9. The soft key under zero was pressed and the display will show 0.000 mg/I N NH 3
10. The prepared sample was placed into cell holder. Result in mg/I ammonia expressed as
nitrogen was displayed

5.0 Results

Solution
Blank
Standard
Sample A
Sample B (Duplicate)
Table 5.1 : Reading of sample

Reading (mg/L)
0.00
0.99
0.54
0.55

NH3-N (mg/L) = NH3-N (value from spectrophotometer)

Solution
Blank
Standard
Sample A
Sample B (Duplicate)

NH3-N (value from spectrophotometer)

NH3-N 0.00
NH3-N 0.99
NH3-N 0.54
NH3-N 0.55
Table 5.2 : Spectrophotometer reading

NH3-N (mg/L)
0.00
0.99
0.54
0.55

Parameters

Reading

Dissolved Oxygen (%)

15.6

Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)

1.27

Temperature

25.74

Salinity

0.09

pH

7.98

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS %)

0.125

ORP

37.8
Table 5.3: YSIs reading meter

6.0 Discussion
Aquatic life and fish also contribute to ammonia levels in a stream.NH3 is the principal form of
toxic ammonia. It has been reported toxic to fresh water organisms at concentrations ranging
from 0.53 to 22.8 mg/L (Hyland,2003). Toxic levels are both pH and temperature dependent.
Toxicity increases as pH decreases and as temperature decreases. Plants are more tolerant of
ammonia than animals, and invertebrates are more tolerant than fish. Natural levels in
groundwaters are usually below 0.2 mg of ammonia per liter (Hyland,2003). Higher natural
contents are found in humid substances or iron or in forests. Surface waters may contain up to
12 mg/liter (Sincero,2003). Ammonia may be present in drinking-water as a result of
disinfection with chloramines. The presence of ammonia at higher than geogenic levels is an
important indicator of fecal pollution.

7.0 Conclusion
The ammonia nitrate in wastewater in different form, depends in the source which come from.
Beside,Toxicity increases as pH decreases and as temperature decreases.

9.0 References
.
Clark J. W. and Viessman W. (2002) Water Supply and Pollution Control. International
Textbook Company. pp. 387390.
Hyland. Environmental Science. 3rd Ed. Living within the System of Nature. Prentice Hall.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1993. p. 342..
European Standard EN 1899-2-March 1998, Determination of biochemical demand after
n days. Part 2: method for undiluted sample (ISO 5815:1989, modified)
Sincero, A. P., & Sincero, G. A. (2003). Physical-chemical treatment of water and
wastewater. IWA Publishing.