Silicon, Its Forms and Methods of Determination in Water Bodies: A Review

Abstract

Background: Characteristics of silicon and its compounds found in water bodies and recently updated standards for their content in drinking water regulated by Russian Sanitary Rules and Norms SanPiN 2.1.4.3685–21, Hygienic standards and re- quirements for ensuring safety and/or harmlessness of environmental factors for humans, necessitate optimal and affordable methods of determination of silicon for drinking water quality control purposes. Objective: To summarize published data on the forms of silicon and methods of their quantitative determination in source and drinking water. Materials and methods: Information and analytical methods based on summarization and analysis of data of scientific papers published in 1923–2020 and cited by Scopus and RSCI international scientometric databases were applied. The search terms included silicon, drinking water, silicon compounds, and methods of quantitative determination. The initial sample consist- ed of 57 articles, of which 14 were excluded after primary screening and 43 publications compliant with selection criteria were reviewed. Results: Published data summarization has demonstrated the prevalence monomeric and dimeric species of silicic acid and soluble silicate ions in most water bodies. Conclusion: The silicomolybdic acid spectrophotometry is the method of choice for determination of silicon concentrations in source water.