Water sample is injected into a Wescan ion chromatograph (IC) to analyze for the common anions, chloride, sulfate, and nitrate. The water is pumped through a column that separates the anions according to mass and charge.

Signals from the detector in the IC are recorded by a Shimadzu digital integrator and converted to anion concentrations based on comparison with standard solutions having a precisely known composition. The printout from each analysis can be quickly inspected to assure the validity of the run.