“…The first method allows an in-situ assessment of the equilibrium distribution of solutes having a pore size less than that of the membrane (Alfaro-De la Torre et al, 2000;Gimpel et al, 2003) and it has been previously used to isolate small size fractions of metals (Beneš and Steinnes, 1974;Jansen et al, 2001), to sample and assess the speciation of metals in the lake waters and in sediments (Carignan et al, 1985) and to remove small particles of iron oxy(hydr)oxide from solution . Ultrafiltration, which is more widely used in assessing the state of TE and organic ligands in natural waters (e.g.…”