Patent ID: 6911534

Claim:
A method for determining the presence and/or concentration of a polydisperse water treatment polymer in an aqueous sample, comprising (a) contacting a composition comprising an effective amount of a monoclonal or polyclonal antibody which binds to the water treatment polymer wherein the water treatment polymer is selected from the group consisting of a polymaleic acid polymer; a hydrolysed maleic acid polymer; terpolymers of maleic anhydride, ethyl acrylate and vinyl acetate; copolymers of acrylic acid and maleic anhydride; copolymers of maleic acid and sodium allyl sulphonate; copolymers of maleic anhydride and sulphonated styrene; and combinations thereof, with the aqueous sample; (b) incubating the sample with the composition comprising the antibody for a time effective for the antibody to bind to the water treatment polymer to form a complex; and (c) detecting the complex and thereby determining the presence and/or concentration of the water treatment polymer in the aqueous sample.