Silver is a relatively common heavy metal. For example, some of the jewelry we usually wear contains silver. It is a silvery – white, lustrous metallic element. This paper, in collaboration with Hangzhou Modi, will explore the main sources of silver in water bodies and how to determine if the silver content in water exceeds the standard.

Among common silver salts, silver nitrate is soluble and serves as the main component of silver in wastewater. Silver nitrate exists in multiple industries, including electroplating, ceramics, photography, chemical engineering, and mechanical manufacturing. Notably, wastewater containing silver mainly originates from the photography and electroplating industries.

To remove silver from wastewater, several methods are available. Four common and basic methods are reduction substitution, ion exchange, electrolytic recovery, and precipitation. Additionally, there are other approaches such as reverse osmosis and adsorption. Given the relatively high economic value of silver recovery from wastewater, a combination of multiple methods can be adopted to achieve high recovery efficiency. For example, silver in electroplating wastewater can be recovered through a combination of ion exchange, evaporation, or electrolytic reduction.

How to Determine if Silver in Water Bodies Exceeds the Standard

From the perspective of heavy metals, metal ions can damage human proteins, leading to their inactivation. Drinking water with a high silver content can have severe consequences. Therefore, real – time monitoring of silver in water is of great significance. We can utilize the T8000 – Ag Online Silver Analyzer to measure the silver content in water and assess whether the water quality meets the discharge standards. It should be noted that in addition to silver, there are other parameters in sewage and wastewater.

Thus, online monitoring of these water quality parameters is equally essential for ensuring environmental safety and public health.