Detection methods of nitrate in water: a review

Water contamination is a major problem all over the world and it is important to monitor the contaminating ions regularly to keep the groundwater or drinking water safe. The nitrate ion has a great impact on human health and the environment, and excessive use of this ion will damage the ecological system and the natural environment. Nitrate ions can be detected through laboratory-based methods or in-situ sensor-based methods to develop a monitoring system. Some such systems have a high sensitivity with a good limit of detection (LOD), but with expensive instrumentation. Others have a reasonable sensitivity with reduced cost where the proposed detection method uses a sensor-based portable sensing system. This review paper discusses the different detection and determination methods of nitrate ions in water. The various characteristics of the detection methods, such as the LOD and systems limitations, are included.