Dr. Frank Brauer (Chairman)
Advisory Board of the Water Resources Standards Committee
DIN NA 119-09 FB
Division of Water Testing (CEN/TC 230, ISO/TC 147)

Standardisation coordinator of the Water Chemistry Society


Testing, standardisation and further development of analytical methods

Since its foundation in 1926, one of the aims of the Wasserchemische Gesellschaft has been to standardise the test methods used to assess water quality. In 1928, a committee was set up specifically for this purpose, which today operates under the name "Main Committee I: Analytical Methods - Development and Standardisation". Since then, members of the Wasserchemische Gesellschaft have played a central role with their expertise in the standardisation of analytical methods in the field of water and sludge testing. They contribute to the availability of citable procedural regulations in the form of standards for legislation.

In 1935, the "Physikalische und Chemische Einheitsverfahren" (Physical and Chemical Standardised Methods) were published for the first time by Verlag Chemie, which were published in 1953 under the title "Deutsche Einheitsverfahren zur Wasseruntersuchung" (German Standardised Methods for Water Analysis) in a revised and expanded edition. In 1960, the "German Standardised Methods for Water, Wastewater and Sludge Testing" were published as a loose-leaf collection so that the individual regulations could be replaced by new editions as required.

Since 1976, there has been an agreement between the specialist group and the DIN German Institute for Standardisation, according to which the standardised procedures are converted into DIN standards over time and new standardised procedures are developed by the Water Chemistry Society in cooperation with the Water Standards Committee. All DIN standards based on the standardised methods are also published as part of this collection. In Technical Committee 147 "Water Quality" of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), international standards on water quality are developed under German leadership, which in some cases are transferred to the German body of standards in the form of DIN-ISO standards; they are then also published in this collection. In the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN), European standards (EN) on water analysis are developed in Technical Committee 230 under German leadership. European standards must be adopted unchanged into the national body of standards and then replace conflicting DIN standards. European standards for water analysis are generally also included in this loose-leaf collection. ISO standards that are adopted at European level or developed in parallel are published as DIN-EN-ISO standards.

By 2025 around 380 measurement and test methods could be standardised in one of the above-mentioned ways.

More information on standardisation work & DEV

The use of the Excel files is free as long as the copyright notice is not removed and indicated.

A 0-4 - Estimation of the relative or absolute measurement uncertainty
Created by: Dr Michael Koch (University of Stuttgart)
Working aids for procedure A 0-4 "Guidelines for the estimation of measurement uncertainty from validation data" (64th edition 2006 of DEV), which later became the DIN ISO 11352 standard. With its help, the relative or absolute measurement uncertainty of analysis results can be determined in a simple manner. Various validation data available in the laboratory, e.g. from control charts, can be entered. The result is the relative or absolute measurement uncertainty for the parameter in question.
Estimation of the relative measurement uncertainty (Excel)
Estimation of the absolute measurement uncertainty (Excel)

A 51 - Standard addition, linearity test, weighted regression
Created by: Prof. Dr Harald Platen (TH Mittelhessen), Dr Karl-Heinz Bauer (Hessenwasser GmbH & Co. KG), Dr. Michael Koch (University of Stuttgart)
Regarding the DIN 38402-51:2017-05 (DEV A 51) procedure, the files provide examples and working aids for calibration using standard addition in accordance with section 7.7 of the standard, for estimating the linear working range according to section 6.3 or using the empirical curvature test according to Annex C and for carrying out the weighted regression according to Annex D.
Standard addition (Excel; Platen/Bauer)
Linearity test (Excel; Bauer/Koch)
Weighted regression (Excel)

A 71 - Equivalence test, Bland-Altman diagram
Prepared on behalf of DIN NA 119-01-03-06-AK6 by: Dr. Karl-Heinz Bauer (formerly Hessenwasser, Darmstadt), Dr.- Ing.Michael Koch (University of Stuttgart)
Working aid for testing the equivalence of two analysis methods with the Bland-Altman quotient diagram according to DIN 38402-71:2020-10, section 9.
Equivalence test Bland-Altman (Excel)

A 71 - Equivalence test, TOST method
Prepared on behalf of DIN NA 119-01-03-06-AK6 by: Prof. Dr. Harald Platen (TH Mittelhessen), Sabine Jähnichen (VKTA, Dresden)
Working aid for testing the equivalence of two analytical methods using the two one-sided t-test (TOST) according to DIN 38402-71:2020-10, section 8.
Equivalence test TOST (Excel)

A 100 - Test for limit value violation
Created by: Dr Michael Winterstein (WESSLING GmbH), Prof. Dr Karl Molt (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Working aid for method A100, DIN SPEC 38402-100 German standardised methods for the analysis of water, wastewater and sludge - General data (Group A) - Part 100: Testing for limit value violation taking into account the measurement uncertainty using statistical and empirical methods. It enables the calculation of how the parameters standard uncertainty of a single measurement (u), number of determinations (n), significance level (a) and error of the 2nd kind (β) are affected when testing an analytical result for compliance with an upper or lower limit value for conformity criteria.
Limit violation (Excel)

Validation documents for procedures published in the DEV, which appeared as German:

C 3 - DIN 38404-3:2005-07
Determination of absorption in the UV radiation range, spectral absorption coefficient

D 7 - DIN 38405-7:2002-04
Determination of cyanides in low-polluted water using ion chromatography or potentiometric titration

D 13 - DIN 38405-13:2011-04
Determination of cyanides

D 27 - DIN 38405-27:2017-10
Determination of sulphide by gas extraction

D 35 - DIN 38405-35:2004-09
Determination of arsenic - method using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS)

D 52 - DIN 38405-52:2020-11
Photometric determination of chromium(VI) dissolved in water

E 8 - DIN 38406-8:2004-10
Determination of zinc - method using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) in the air-ethine flame

E 29 - DIN 38406-29:1999-05
Determination of 61 elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The validation document refers to the German standard, which was replaced in the 66th edition 2006 by DIN EN ISO 17353:2005-11.

E 32 - DIN 38406-32:2000-05
Determination of iron by atomic absorption spectrometry

E33 - DIN 38406-33:2000-06
Determination of manganese by atomic absorption spectrometry

F7 - DIN 38407-7:2000-09
Determination of six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in drinking and mineral water using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC)

F13 - DIN 38407-13:2001-03
Method for the determination of selected organotin compounds by gas chromatography. The validation document refers to the German standard, which was replaced by DIN EN ISO 17353:2004.

F16 - DIN 38407-16:1999-06
Determination of aniline derivatives by gas chromatography

F20 - DIN 38407-20:2000-09
Determination of bentazone, bromoxynil and 8 selected phenoxyalkanecarboxylic acids by gas chromatography and mass spectrometric detection after solid-liquid extraction and derivatisation. The validation document refers to the German standard, which was replaced by DIN EN ISO 15913:2003-05.

F22 - DIN 38407-22:2001-10
Determination of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in water by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), post-column derivatisation and fluorescence detection

F25 - DIN 38407-25:2002-02
Determination of dalapone, trichloroacetic acid and selected other haloacetic acids by gas chromatography (GC-ECD and/or GC-MS) after liquid-liquid extraction and derivatisation. The German standard has been replaced by DIN EN ISO 23631:2006 and has been classified as method F25 in the DEV.

F27 - DIN 38407-27:2012-10
Determination of selected phenols in groundwater and soil leachate, aqueous eluates and percolates

F34 - DIN 38407-34:2006-05
Commonly detectable groups of substances - Part 34: Determination of selected plant treatment products, biocides and degradation products; method using gas chromatography (GC-MS) after solid-phase microextraction (SMPE)

F35 - DIN 38407-35:2010-10
Determination of selected phenoxyalkanecarboxylic acids and other acidic pesticide active ingredients using high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-MS/MS)

F36 - DIN 38407-36:2015-09
Determination of selected pesticide active ingredients and other organic substances in water by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometric detection after direct injection

F41 - DIN 38407-41:2011-06
Determination of selected volatile organic compounds in water - Method using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME)

F42 - DIN 38407-42:2011-03
Determination of selected polyfluorinated compounds (PFC) in water - Method using high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-MS/MS) after solid-liquid extraction

F 49 - DIN CEN/TS 16692 (DIN SPEC 38407 49):2015-09
Determination of tributyltin (TBT) in total water samples - Method using solid phase extraction (SPE) with SPE discs and gas chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

F50 - DIN EN 16691:2015-12
Determination of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in total water samples - Method using solid phase extraction (SPE) with SPE discs in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

F51 - DIN EN 16693:2015-12
Determination of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in total water samples - Method using solid phase extraction (SPE) with SPE discs in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

H7 - DIN 38409-7:2005-12
Determination of acid and base capacity

H22 - DIN 38409-22:2001-02
Determination of dissolved adsorbable organically bound halogens in highly saline waters after solid phase enrichment (SPE-AOX)

H34 - DIN EN 12260:2003-12
Determination of bound nitrogen (TNb) after oxidation to nitrogen oxides

H56 - DIN 38409-56:2009-06
Gravimetric determination of low volatile lipophilic substances after solvent extraction

H59 - DIN 38409-59:2022-10
Determination of adsorbable, organically bound fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine (AOF, AOCl, AOBr, AOI) by means of combustion and subsequent ion chromatographic measurement

K9 - DIN 38411-9:2001-10
Determination of Enterobacterial Common Antigen (ECA) for the detection of lactose-fermenting Enterobecteriaceae

L48 - DIN 38412-48:2002-09
Arthrobacter globiformis contact test for contaminated solids

L59 - DIN 38412-59:2023-01
Report on interlaboratory comparison - Algae growth inhibition test on microtitre plate with unicellular freshwater green algae

M1 - DIN 38410-1:2004-10
Determination of the saprobic index in running waters

M 37 - DIN EN 16695:2015-12
Guidance for the estimation of phytoplankton biovolume

M 38 - DIN EN 16698:2015-12
Guidance for the quantitative and qualitative sampling of phytoplankton from inland waters

P3 - DIN 38413-3:2000-07
Determination of nitrilotriloacetic acid (NTA) and ethylenedinitrilotetraacetic acid (EDTA) using gas chromatography

P6 - DIN 38413-6:2007-02
Determination of acrylamide - Method using high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-MS/MS)

P8 - DIN 38413-8:2000-09
Determination of the dissolved complexing agents nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), ethylenedinitrilotetraacetic acid (EDTA) and diethylenetrinitrilopentaacetic acid (DTPA) using liquid chromatography (LC)

P10 - DIN 38413-10:2000-06
Determination of six organic complexing agents by gas chromatography with nitrogen-sensitive and mass spectrometric detection

S14 - DIN 38414-14:2011-08
Determination of selected polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in sludge, compost and soil - Method using high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-MS/MS)

S19 - DIN 38414-19:1999-12
Determination of water vapour volatile organic acids

S23 - DIN 38414-23:2002-02
Determination of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and fluorescence detection

S24 - DIN 38414-24:2000-10
Determination of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF)

T6 - DIN 38415-6:2001-09
Toxicity to fish. Determination of the non-acute toxic effect of waste water on the development of fish eggs via dilution stages. The validation document refers to the German standard, which was replaced by DIN 38415-6: 2003-08 and then by DIN EN ISO 15088:2009-06.