Soil chlorides parameter video transcript

If chlorides appear in the environment it has a devastating impact on an ecosystem. Rising ground water is a common cause of dry land salinity. Plants such as casuarinas can tolerate high salt levels.

To measure the salinity of the soil at Longneck Lagoon EEC you will need a dimpled mixing tray, trowel and silver nitrate.

As this is a chemical test, you are required to wear gloves and safety glasses.

Use your trowel to scrape away any leaf litter from your sampling spot. Use your trowel to dig a small hole and remove some of the soil. Remove any small stones or twigs from your soil sample and place the soil in one of the dimples on your tray.

Place two drops of silver nitrate on the sample. If chlorides are present in the sample a white precipitate will appear.

To clean up after this test, you will need to wash the soil and chemicals off the mixing tray in the chemical waste container. Make sure you are still wearing gloves and glasses while you wash up.