BS EN 17899:2024

This standard BS EN 17899:2024 Water quality. Spectrophotometric determination of chlorophyll-a content by ethanol extraction for the routine monitoring of water quality is classified in these ICS categories:

• 13.060.70 Examination of biological properties of water
• 71.040.50 Physicochemical methods of analysis

This document describes a spectrophotometric method for determining the chlorophyll-a content corrected for phaeopigments as a measure of the amount of phytoplankton for all types of surface water including marine water. The determination limit is usually 2 µg/l to 5 µg/l and is calculated by each laboratory individually. It can be as low as 0,5 µg/l using 2 l of sample (or even more) and a 50 mm cuvette. NOTE In some measurement programs like marine studies on time series data and ecological status/classification no correction for phaeopigments is used and acidification is omitted, e.g. as recommended by OSPAR.