Using `test strips' to measure groundwater nitrate concentrations on farms

摘要

GROUNDWATER nitrate concentrations are high in parts of the sugar industry (Biggs et al., 2000, 2001), and best practic management requires that concentrations be monitored regularly. Nitriate test strips (Merkoquant nitrate test) are one means for growers to monitor their bores. The strips are cheap and give an `instant' measurement of nitrate concentrations, and so are ideal for use by growers. But growers are unliely to sue them under the laboratory conditions in which they have been developed and calibrated, and the strips' accuracy may suffer as a result.