Single flow-based system for the automatic multiparametric nutrients (NPK & Fe) assessment in soil leachates.

A multiparametric sequential injection system for the determination of phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, potassium, and iron(III) in a single manifold was developed. The main goal of the proposed method was to develop an efficient tool to assess a number of essential chemical compounds in soils, providing the corresponding information on soil fertility and, additionally, information on possible groundwater contamination. The method was applied for the quantification of the aforementioned parameters in simulated leachates produced in laboratory-scale core columns. The relative standard deviations of ten replicate analyses of a standard were: 6% for phosphate; 2% for nitrite; 2% for nitrate; 5% for potassium; and 6% for iron(III). The limits of detection and quantification were: 2.15 and 7.18 μmol/L for phosphate determination; 0.22 and 0.73 μmol/L for nitrite determination; 3.42 and 8.00 μmol/L for nitrate determination; 39 μmol/L (limit of detection) for potassium determination; and 0.46 and 1.85 μmol/L for iron(III) determination. The sequential injection system was successfully applied for the quantification of multiple soil chemical components (PO43-, NO2-, NO3-, K+, and Fe3+) in soil leachates. The analysis of a sample, involving all the analytes, has a duration of 28 min.