Abstract
Using 2 examples (uric acid determination in municipal wastewaters and nitrate/nitrite determination in less organic polluted surface or ground waters) some advantages of derivative spectroscopy in the UV/VIS[visible light]-range for the quantitative evaluation of water pollution loads were demonstrated. By careful observing and avoiding matrix effects derivative spectroscopy was applied directly to the analysis of sample constituents with a minimum of preparation and separation expenditure compared to standard methods.