WETLAB BlogWestern Environmental Testing Laboratory

Waiting for Water – A Dry Start to Winter

January 16, 2012 | Posted by WETLAB

Finally SNOW!

Over a century ago, our region was characterized by booms and busts in gold and silver. Now it’s water - last year hit the motherload with snowfall in the Sierra for the record books. This year - so far - has been a bust, with the second driest December on record in the northern Sierra - the driest for Reno in 130 years.
While Wetlab’s work is water quality, as a part of the region we’re all watching water quantity too. Reno and Sparks depend on the snowfall in the Sierra slowly melting in the spring and coming down the Truckee River. So no snow has some people concerned.

The first snow survey by the California Department of Water Resources happened just after the first of the year in the Sierra.
The results weren’t surprising to anybody looking up at the bare mountains above Northern Nevada: 21 percent of normal water content for Jan. 3, and 8 percent of where we want to be by April 1, according to the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

The National Integrated Drought Information System rates much of Northern Nevada between “abnormally dry” and “Drought - moderate” and the Northern Sierra to the west in “Drought - Severe” as of January 10.

The good news, according to the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, is there is still plenty of water for its customers, according to a report on KOLO News.
“We know we can withstand at least a nine year drought,” Senior Hydrologist Bill Hauck said to KOLO.

Last year’s huge snowfall helped, leaving enough water stored in Lake Tahoe and area reservoirs for the community, he said.
The dry spell could still effect Northern Nevada residents in the costs of food as scarce water has affected agriculture, according to the report.
And  the dry weather put firefighters on high alert during a red flag warning on Sunday when the wind picked up, according to the National Weather Service.
The culprit has been a large high pressure front blocking storms and sending them both to the north and the south since around Thanksgiving.
But things  have started to change this week, with a the high pressure front being displaced north and a cold front moving into our region, according to the Weather Service.

“A short period of light to moderate rain should spill into the most populated areas by late Thursday afternoon,” according to the forecast discussion. “The strongest storm is still on track to affect the region Friday thru (sic) Saturday. Confidence is quite high for a period of heavy precipitation in eastern California and far western Nevada as subtropical moisture plume with 1.5 inches PW values points straight at the Sierra.”

Let’s hope the trend continues as the winter progresses, and the winter turns into another strong one!

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Wetlab Expands into Las Vegas

December 13, 2011 | Posted by WETLAB

Viva Las Vegas!  As for Vegas, the lease is completed and we're currently setting up and going through the certification process for the test we will perform in Vegas. We will perform locally Total Coliform, Quant Tray, Fecal Coliform, pH and BOD5.

The address is 3230 Polaris Ave. Unit 4, Las Vegas, NV 89102.
For additional information please contact Nick Ross at (775) 355-0202.

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Looking out for Pharmaceuticals in Water Quality

October 12, 2011 | Posted by WETLAB

Water quality testing is constantly changing and evolving to keep up with new and changing potential contaminants - and at WETLAB we work hard to insure we have the knowledge and the equipment to keep up.
For example, beyond the usual suspects of industrial and agricultural pollutants, pharmaceuticals and personal care products are making their way into the drinking water supply in some places around the world - not just from manufacturing but from what goes down average people’s drains and what’s flushed down their toilets.

Incompletely metabolized hormones, antibiotics and other over-the-counter and prescription drugs have been detected in sewage treatment plants, rivers, lakes and aquifers.
Nitro musks - a fragrant or preservative component in cosmetics have also been detected and are of concern due to possible negative environmental impacts, and sun screen agents have been found in lakes and even fish.
Researchers Christian G Daughton and Thomas A. Ternes described the amount of pharmaceuticals and personal care products going into the environment each year is similar to the amount of pesticides, in fact, according to The University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

As of 2008, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority hasn’t reported any pharmaceutical contamination in Reno drinking water - testing for 31 compounds at a sensitivity of one part per trillion, “or one drop in 1,000 Olympic-size swimming pools,” according to tmwa.com.

But it’s an issue that water quality specialists like WETLAB need to keep an eye on, as more and more such contaminants are being found around the country and around the world.
A United States Geological Survey nation-wide assessment has found caffeine, codeine, cholesterol-lowering agents, anti-depressants, and estrogen replacement drugs in tested waters.
This has already had measurable affects on aquatic life - for example, British research found that estrogen has deformed reproductive systems in fish, according to The University of Arizona.

But the effects on human’s aren’t as clear, according to the university document, with some experts believing levels are generally too low to pose a risk to people, while others believe long-term exposure could  potentially cause problems from interfering with hormone production to the creation of more antibiotic-resistant disease-causing bacteria.

Arid western regions, where streams can be more reliant on effluent, could be more susceptible, which is why water quality monitoring will continue to be critical in our region.

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Lake Tahoe’s New Standard for Water Quality – TMDL

September 15, 2011 | Posted by WETLAB

At the 15th annual Lake Tahoe Summit in Homewood, Ca this summer, hosted by Senator Dianne Feinstein and attended by Senator Harry Reid, Senator Dean Heller, California Governor Jerry Brown and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, policy makers came up with an important plan for Lake Tahoe.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to restore the lake’s clarity to 97.4 feet by 2076, a lofty goal aiming for historic levels before runoff and pollution clouded the mountain lake’s clear waters.

Most recent measurements have the lake’s clarity - measured by lowering a white disk (called a Secchi disk) into the water and seeing how far down it can still be spotted - at 64.4 feet.

The plan, developed by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, is called the Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL), capping the amount of pollution and runoff working its way into the lake - particularly from urban storm water runoff.
It calls for area jurisdictions - the City of South Lake Tahoe, the bordering county governments in both California and Nevada and their respective road departments to reduce sediment going into the lake by 32 percent over the next 15 years - and that’s where precise water quality monitoring comes into play.
Not only do sediments and pollutants have to be monitored, but nutrients as well, which can cause algae blooms that dramatically cloud the water. The plan targets fine sediments (which tend to “hang” in the water rather than settling to the bottom of the lake), phosphorus and nitrogen pollutants.
Top sources of those contaminants being targeted include urban and forest storm water runoff, stream channel erosion and atmospheric deposition.
When government agencies take steps like stabilizing and re-vegetating road shoulders and eroding slopes, street sweeping, better landscaping, runoff treatment and filtration, the creation of wetlands, the revegetation of ski slopes and other projects - close monitoring while be necessary to measure success.
And success is critical, considering the plan could cost as much as $100 million per year for the next 15 years, according to the Lahontan regional Water Quality Control Board, so monitoring will insure that is money well spent.

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Microbiology Analyses at WETLAB

March 25, 2011 | Posted by WETLAB

Natural resources are important for the livelihood and survival of populations.  One of the most important resources is water, and to be even more specific clean water.  The distribution of water serves many purposes, from aquatic ecosystems, domestic use to commercial and industrial use.  Clean and safe drinking water can be monitored through microbiological testing.  At WETLAB - Western Environmental Testing Laboratory we are proud to offer four certified microbiology analyses and two non-compliance tests.  We are certified in Nevada and California to analyze Presence/Absence (P/A), Quanti-tray, Fecal Coliform and Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC).  The two non-compliance tests we offer are tests to determine Iron Related Bacteria and Sulfate Reducing Bacteria.  WETLAB is continuously evolving each department and strives to offer quality data for clients and we encourage method development by researching new tests in order to meet our client needs.

This post is provided to help clients better understand the microbiology analyses at WETLAB.  Each test will be described in detail with regards to what we are testing for, what type of sample matrices can be analyzed for certain tests, brief description of the analyses and the hold times for each test (please note there are two different hold times for Quanti-tray).  The definition that we follow at WETLAB for sample hold time is the time from sample collection to when analysis MUST begin.

For more information on microbiology analysis, please refer to Standard Methods, Part 9000, Methods 9222 and 9223.

Bacteria Sample Bottle, Volume and Sample Integrity

• Plastic, sterile bottle
• Sample bottle contains sodium thiosulfate.
• Fill to 100 mL line.
• Chill to 2-6^o C.
• Cleanliness is required!

SM 9223 B

Presence/Absence (P/A)

Laboratory Hold time (HT)

• P/A  =  30 Hour HT

Sample Matrix

• This test is recommended for the analysis of potable drinking water and fresh source waters

Biology Background

• The scope of this test is to analyze for the presence or absence of Total Coliform bacteria and Escherichia Coli. Total Coliform bacteria are abundant in the environment and are easily identified in the laboratory.  While these bacteria may not be pathogenic they are used as “indicator bacteria,” for the sanitation of drinking water.  If Total Coliform bacteria are present, there is a chance that E.Coli could also be present.  Some types of E.Coli can be found in the guts of living organisms as beneficial co-factors in the daily health of that individual.  Because E.Coli is found in the gut, the purpose of testing for it is to determine the possibility of fecal contamination, which is used as an indicator for the sanitation of a water source.

Laboratory Analysis

• Tests for Total Coliform and E. coli only.
• Strictly a qualitative result is obtained.
• Used almost exclusively for drinking water.
• 24 hour incubation.
• Incubation temperature, 35.0 + 0.5 ^oC
• Analysis performed in sample bottle.
• Commercially available chromogenic substrate (ONPG)-known as “Colilert” is used.
• Colilert is used to detect the enzyme b-D-galactosidase, which is produced by total coliform.
• Total coliform detection produces a yellow color.
• Colilert is used to detect the enzyme b-glucuronidase, which is produced by E. coli.
• E. coli detection produces a fluorescent product when viewed under long-wavelength UV light.

SM 9223 B

Quanti-tray (MPN)

Laboratory Hold time (HT)

• Quanti-tray =  30 Hour HT for Drinking water/Source water
• Quanti-tray =  6 Hour HT for Wastewater samples

Sample Matrix

• This test is recommended for the analysis of potable drinking water, fresh source water or wastewaters

Biology Background

• The scope of this test is to analyze for a “most probable number” index of the number of Total Coliform bacteria and Escherichia Coli, present in the sample.. Total Coliform bacteria are abundant in the environment and are easily identified in the laboratory.  While these bacteria may not be pathogenic they are used as “indicator bacteria,” for the sanitation of drinking water.  If Total Coliform bacteria are present, there is a chance that E.Coli could also be present.  Some types of E.Coli can be found in the guts of living organisms as beneficial co-factors in the daily health of that individual.  Because E.Coli is found in the gut, the purpose of testing for it is to determine the possibility of fecal contamination, which is used as an indicator for the sanitation of the water source.

Laboratory Analysis

• Tests for Total Coliform and E. coli only.
• Quantitative result is obtained.
• Most commonly used for source water.
• 24 hour incubation.
• Incubation temperature, 35.0 + 0.5 ^oC
• Uses Colilert just like presence/absence.
• Sample poured into analysis tray, then incubated.
• Count yellow/fluorescent wells in tray, this produces MPN-Most Probable Number result.

SM 9222 D

Fecal Coliform

Laboratory Hold time (HT)

• Fecal Coliform  =  8 Hour HT

Sample Matrix

• This test is recommended for the analysis source water, wastewaters and sludge’s.

Biology Background

• The scope of this test is to analyze a direct count of colony forming units of fecal coliform.  Fecal coliform can originate in feces (e.g. E.Coli) or non-fecal origin, such as plant materials and paper mill effluents examples of bacteria are Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Citrobacter.  The assay is intended to detect E. Coli as an indicator organism for fecal contamination.

Laboratory Analysis

• Tests for fecal contamination in water.
• Quantitative result is obtained.
• Most commonly used for waste water and surface water.
• 24 hour incubation in water bath.
• Incubation temperature, 44.5. + 0.2 ^oC
  • Sample is filtered (0.45 mm), microorganisms collect on filter and grow due to media used in petri dish.
  • Count blue colonies.

SM 9215 B / SimPlate

HETEROTROPHIC PLATE COUNT (HPC)

Laboratory Hold time (HT)

• HPC  =  8 Hour HT

Sample Matrix

• This test is recommended for the analysis of potable drinking water, fresh source water or wastewaters.

Biology Background

• Heterotrophic bacteria, must consume carbon sources for energy and growth.  They are found prevalent in the environment as decomposing bacteria as well as being normal flora of the human body.  Current research is investigating the use of Heterotrophic bacteria testing for similar purposes as P/A and Fecal Coliform, to evaluate the composition of the water, using Heterotrophic bacteria as the “indicator” organism for possible contamination in water.

Laboratory Analysis

• Tests for Heterotrophic bacteria
• Quantitative result is obtained.
• Most commonly used for drinking water.
• 48 hour incubation.
• Incubation temperature, 35.0 + 0.5 ^oC
• Uses IDEXX’s Multiple Enzyme Technology media.
• Sample poured into analysis tray, then incubated.
• Count blue fluorescence, this produces MPN-Most Probable Number result.

SM 9240 B

Iron Related Bacteria (IRB)

SM 9240 C

Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB)

Laboratory Hold time (HT)

• IRB/SRB  =  WETLAB would prefer to use a hold time of 30 Hours

Sample Matrix

• This test is recommended for the analysis of treated water, distribution systems and water used in for industrial use, such as cooling and boiler waters.

Biology Background

• The scope of these tests are very similar, hence the reason they have been grouped together.  The metabolic processes of Iron Bacteria and Sulfur Bacteria chemically change the constituents they are associated with.  The metabolic wastes can be bothersome because they can form slimes that clog pipelines or affect the aesthetic properties of water.

Laboratory Analysis

• Tests for either Iron Related Bacteria or Sulfate Reducing Bacteria
• Strictly a qualitative result is obtained.
• Most commonly used for water used for industrial and distribution systems.
• 8 Day incubation.
• Incubation temperature, 20-25^oC
• Uses BART^TM test kit for IRB or SRB analysis
• Sample poured into analysis tray, then incubated.
• Visually inspect for reactions of presence/absence.

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Impacts of Stormwater Discharge on Water Bodies

June 9, 2009 | Posted by WETLAB

Posted by Ginger Peppard, Business Development Manager

I recently attended a great workshop hosted by Placer County and the Town of Truckee entitled “Stormwater Quality Workshop for the Truckee Area Emphasizing Regulations, BMP's and Low Impact Development." The workshop was designed to provide contractors, developers, planners, engineers and inspectors with information needed in order to be in compliance with current storm water and non-storm water discharge requirements. It also addressed current regulations, Best Management Practices (BMPs) for construction sites and an overview of Low Impact Development (LID). For more information about the workshop (or to see when they are going to schedule it again!) or about Placer County's Stormwater Quality Program, email: stormwater@placer.ca.gov.

Why is stormwater monitoring and quality important?

Stormwater runoff occurs when rain or snowmelt flows over impervious surfaces (such as roads, driveways, buildings, sidewalks and parking lots). These impervious surfaces prevent the water from soaking directly into the ground. Stormwater runoff is a problem because, while the water is traveling over these impervious surfaces, searching for an area to infiltrate, it picks up speed, as well as debris, chemicals, dirt and other pollutants. Because stormwater is not treated (or minimally treated in some areas), those large concentrations of pollutants are then deposited directly into the storm drains, or in many cases, directly into streams, rivers, lakes or wetlands.

These harmful contaminants then come in direct contact with fish and wildlife and pollute the water that many of us depend on for recreation activities and for drinking water. Some of the common pollutants found in stormwater are: motor oil, grease, automotive fluids, pesticides, fertilizers, pet waste, paint, solvents, insecticides and sediment and other large debris such as plastic bags, cigarette butts and bottles and cans. Bacteria and other pathogens are also common contaminants and can create serious health hazards. All of these pollutants have serious hazards, either to humans or to the fish and wildlife that inhabit our local streams, lakes and wetlands.

Here are some things you can do to help prevent stormwater runoff pollution:

• Prevent soil erosion by vegetating bare spots in and around your property. If you have livestock, take all possible steps to prevent overgrazing.
• Pick up after your pet and dispose of waste in a proper waste receptacle.
• Cover piles of Pick up after your pet and dispose of waste in a proper waste receptacle.
  loose landscaping materials.
• Do not disturb vegetation or soil around natural waterways. Stick to defined trails while enjoying the outdoors.
• Never dump anything down the storm drains or directly into waterways.
• Dispose of used auto fluids, batteries, solvents, paints and prescription drugs using proper disposal methods. Many of these items have designated drop off or recycling locations.
• Take your car to the car wash instead of washing it in your driveway.
• Use fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides sparingly.
• Don't over water your lawn.
• If you have a septic tank, have it professionally inspected every 3 years and pumped regularly.
• During construction activities, minimize disturbed areas, stabilize slopes and avoid disturbing natural channels. Also minimize the amount of dirt tracked out of the project site.

For more information from Placer County, or additional information brochures for homeowners, construction, Post-Construction and Business/Industrial, visit Placer County's website at http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Works/StrmWtr.aspx.

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