Feasibility of Using a Turbidimeter to Quantify Suspended Solids Concentration in a Tidal Saltmarsh Creek

A field infrared nephelometric turbidimeter was deployed to measure turbidity continuously in a tidal saltmarsh creek, and water samples were taken periodically and analysed for suspended solids concentrations. Five hundred and ninety-three (593) water samples were collected over 25 different time periods from May to October 1996. Suspended solids in the creek were found to be mostly medium silt. Measured suspended solids concentrations are statistically related to measured turbidity with a correlation coefficient of 0•827. The linear regression relationship between total suspended solids concentration and turbidity has a slope of 1•584 (mg l−1per FTU). Data and experience from this study indicate that turbidity measurements provide surrogate measurements of suspended solids concentration in mid-latitude tidal creeks. This feasibility study is an initial step toward monitoring exchanges of solids over a long time period in the coastal wetlands system.