Objectives To develope an efficient and rapid method for the determination of ammonia nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and sulfide in drinking water and its source water.

Methods The detection limit, linear correlation coefficient, accuracy and precision of the method were determined by adjusting the working condition of the gas phase molecular absorption spectrometer to the best condition.

Results The linear relationship was good (r>0.999 5), and the precision was high (RSD < 5%). The detection limits of ammonia nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and sulfide were 0.005, 0.001 and 0.002 mg/L, respectively. The standard recovery rates of ammonia nitrogen were between 96.0%~105.0%, nitrite nitrogen between 95.5%~104.4%, and sulfide were between 96.8%~104.8%, respectively.

Conclusions This method is simple, rapid, accurate and sensitive. It has low detection limit and hence is suitable for the determionation of ammonia nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and sulfide in drinking water and its source water.