Determination of anionic surfactants in wastewater treatment plant in Algiers City

A spectrophotometric method was adapted for the determination of anionic surfactants (AnS) using the Crystal Violet. Anionic surfactant gives an ion pair with the dye, which is extracted with an organic solvent. The developed method has been studied and optimized for various parameters, such as the effect of the buffer solution on the extraction of the ion pair (pH 8.1) and the volume of solvent extraction (15mL). Determination of AnS in distilled water gives good precision and a significant detection limit up to 2.5x10(-6)M. Interferences have been eliminated by determining AnS in seawater. An application part for this method was carried out in the determination of AnS in an estuary treatment plant in Algiers city. Many results have been obtained and some interesting observations are made. For this, the optimized method for anionic surfactant determination gives significant and reproducible results.