THREE-MINUTE ANALYSIS OF CHLORIDE, NITRATE, AND SULFATE BY SINGLE COLUMN ANION CHROMATOGRAPHY.

Accepted techniques of single column ion chromatography of inorganic anions were extended to separation of chloride, nitrate, and sulfate using 15 mM phthalic acid as an eluent, permitting reduction of column length to 30 mm and thereby reducing analysis time to three min. Using a 50 mu L sample loop, detection limits were 0. 05 mmol//c L** minus **1 and coefficient of variation values ranged from 0. 8 to 1. 7% using peak height measurements and 0. 8 to 8. 1% using peak area measurements. This configuration is appropriate for routine analysis of soil water extracts and ground water.