Data on the inner filter effect, suspended solids and nitrate interferences in fluorescence measurements of wastewater organic matter

Data in this repository contain raw fluorescence and absorbance measurements of dilution series of three wastewater effluents and a surface water located in Sicily (Italy). Identical dilution series were prepared for unfiltered samples, and for samples filtered by 0.7 μm glass microfiber filters (Whatman, Clifton - NJ). Dilution series were prepared by diluting the original sample with Milli-Q water in a final volume of 100 mL. The volume of water sample diluted in Milli-Q water was progressively reduced by a step of 5/2.5 mL to obtain the dilution series. A further dataset of Fluorescence and UV absorbance measurements is related to samples obtained adding different amount of nitrates in a wastewater effluent. Ultraviolet light absorbance was analyzed using a Shimadzu UV-1800 spectrophotometer (Kyoto, Japan). Absorbance spectra were measured from 200 to 800 nm at 1 nm intervals in a 1 cm quartz cuvette with Milli-Q water used as a blank. Fluorescence data were collected using a Shimadzu RF-5301PC fluorescence spectrophotometer (Kyoto, Japan) with the scanning range from excitation wavelength 220 nm to 450 nm at an interval of 5 nm, and emission wavelength from 250 nm to 580 nm at the interval of 1 nm. Excitation and emission slit widths were both set at 5 nm.