Detection Of Contaminants In Water For Irrigation System

Water contamination is a critical issue in plant growth since the contaminated water can cause abnormality to the plants when phototoxicity occurs. Phytotoxicity can happen when plants use contaminated water for photosynthesis because anything chemical would cause an adverse reaction. For organic contaminants, samples from ammonium nitrate and pesticides are tested and the absorbance peak for contaminants are 363nm and 361nm respectively. Besides that, the heavy metal sample is prepared by mixing up white powder of zinc oxide with water to produce a concentrated heavy metal solution with an absorbance peak at 405nm. Lake water from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) that are used for irrigation systems also are collected to check any organic or heavy metal contaminants. The Ocean Optic spectrometer shows an absorbance peak at 361nm, while the low-cost spectrometer lies between 300nm to 400nm. The absorbance spectrum in this
region shows the highest peak excitation of organic particles. It proves that pesticides are organic contaminants and the presence of this compound in water used for irrigation systems can cause abnormality in the plants growth. Therefore, appropriate, and systematic water supplies are indispensable in agricultural production systems to produce healthy growing plants for consumers.