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- Jar with test strips (for nitrate, use Hach test strips)
- Deltares legend card
- Smartphone with Nitrate App
Step-by-step guide
- Take a water sample
- Rinse the cup before taking a water sample
- Reduce the amount of mud, plants and animals that get into the sample
- Do not fall into the water
- Take out a test strip and your smartphone
- Do this with clean, dry hands
- Close the lid of the jar with the test strips
- Turn on the Nitrate App and go to the 'take picture' screen
- Press on the photo icon on the home screen
- At the top of the 'take picture' screen, a clock indicates the hours, minutes, and seconds
- Dip the test strip in the water sample for 1 second and look at the seconds on the screen
- Remember the time when you took the sample (seconds)
- Do not wave or shake the test strip to dry it
- Place the test strip on the black line next to the legend on the legend card
- Ensure that the test strip, legend, and four corners of the card are clean and dry and are not covered by dirt or your fingers
- Thirty (30) seconds after the strip was dipped in the water, take a picture with the Nitrate App
- Ensure that there is enough light to take the picture
- Press on the screen when you are ready to take the photo. As soon as the legend card is identified, a picture is automatically taken as well.
- The image should be clear, straight, and without shadows
- A blue cross means that one of the corner points has been detected, and a green frame means that the legend card has been identified
- Practice makes perfect
- Check and send the measurement
- Check if the measured value is plausible: does it correspond to what you had in mind?
- Press 'OK' to send the measurement; you can also add a comment and include the water type (e.g., surface water, groundwater)
- If your data usage is restricted, the measurement is still stored and sent the next time you connect to Wi-Fi/data (as long as the Nitrate App is still running)
- Close the Nitrate App or (even better) take another sample
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