Patent ID: 8372258

Claim:
A method of ascertaining the concentration of a target solute in an electrolytic solution, comprising steps of: (a) flowing an electrolytic preconditioning solution containing metal ions and a preconditioning species through a flow channel of a flow-through electrolytic meter; (b) causing deposited metal and adsorbed preconditioning species to form on a working electrode located in said flow channel by applying a potential to said working electrode; (c) then ceasing flow of said preconditioning solution through said flow channel; (d) immediately after said ceasing flow of preconditioning solution, initiating flow of an electrolytic target solution through said flow channel, said electrolytic target solution including metal ions and a target concentration of said target solute; (e) during a transient time period immediately after said initiating flow, applying a constant potential to said working electrode and measuring current density; and (f) determining a slope of current density from a linear portion of a current density-time dependence measured during said transient time period and determining said target concentration from said slope of current density.