A Rapid UV/Vis Spectrophotometric Method for the Water Quality Monitoring at On-Farm Root Vegetable Pack Houses

Our research aim was to apply UV/Vis spectrophotometric techniques for the rapid monitoring of the quality of water sourced from on-farm root vegetable washing processes. To achieve this goal, the quality assessment of the washing water and wastewater at different stages of the technological processes was performed using physicochemical, biological, and UV/Vis absorbance measurements as well as statistical methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression. Limit values of UV/Vis absorbance at specific wavelengths were predicted in order to adapt them for routine testing and water quality monitoring at the farm packhouses. Results of the lab analyses showed, that the main problems of the water quality were caused by suspended solids (470–3400 mg L⁻¹), organic substances (BOD₅ 215–2718 mg L⁻¹; COD 540–3229 mg L⁻¹), nitrogen (3–52 mg L⁻¹), phosphorus (1–6 mg L⁻¹), and pathogenic microorganisms (TVC > 300 cfu mL⁻¹, <i>E. coli</i> 5.5 × 10³–1.0 × 10⁴ cfu mL⁻¹, intestinal enterococci 2.8 × 10²–1.5 × 10⁴ cfu mL⁻¹, coliform bacteria 1.6 × 10³–2.0 × 10⁴ cfu mL⁻¹). Suspended solids exceeded the limit values by 10–50 times, organic matter by 10–25 times, dissolved organic carbon by 3–5 times, nitrogen by 3–7 times, total phosphorus by 3–12 times, and microorganisms by 3–10 times. UV/Vis limit values calculated were as follows: A210 nm—3.997–4.009 cm⁻¹, A 240 nm—5.193–5.235 cm⁻¹, A254 nm—4.042–4.047 cm⁻¹, A320 nm—7.387–7.406 cm⁻¹, and A 660 nm—3.937–3.946 cm⁻¹. UV/Vis measurements at A320 nm are proposed for the routine water quality monitoring.