A sensitive colorimetric determination of fluoride in drinking water has been developed using a polymeric zirconium complex of 5-(2-Carboxyphenylazo)-8-Hydroxyquinoline as fluoride reagents. The method allowed a reliable determination of fluoride in range of (0.0-1.5) mg L-1. The molar absorptivity of the complex formation is 7695 ± 27 L mol-1 cm-1 at 460 nm. The sensitivity, detection limit, quantitation limit, and percentage recovery for 1.0 mg L-1 fluoride for the proposed method were found to be 0.353 ± 0.013 μg mL-1, 0.1 mg L-1, 0.3 mg L-1, and 101.7 ± 4.1, respectively.
