Our ongoing series Life of a Sample explores what happens behind the scenes at WETLAB.  If you missed part one and two, check them out here!

The next step for a sample at WETLAB is distillation and digestion, which takes two days.  Lab technicians start with organizing samples by hold times and due dates, ensuring timely and accurate analysis. Then, we look through historical data to determine if any dilutions are usually needed.  All samples are then organized, the sample preparation log is meticulously filled out, and reagents and standard solutions are gathered.  Then the distillation or digestion block is heated, and once the block reaches the correct temperature, the samples are added.  The process is carefully watched, making sure that no samples boil over, and that the bubbles don’t stop during distillation.  Once the timer stops, the samples are removed from the hot block and placed in clean specimen cups.  Up next, samples move to analysis.

 

Our ongoing series Life of a Sample explores what happens behind the scenes at WETLAB.  If you missed part one, check it out here!

The next step for a sample at WETLAB is sample preparation.  This process takes one day, and involves several different processes and people.  During the first step, all samples undergo the same log-in and review procedure, and sample prep is where the tests begin to diverge dependent on which analyses are required.  Some samples, including many soil tests, require the compositing of several different samples into one representative batch.  For many tests, different filtered and unfiltered aliquots are needed; these pieces are split up into different bottles and preserved as needed.  Once properly split, the samples are released to the lab.

Before the samples reach the lab, laboratory scientists clean and prep the necessary equipment, and lab technicians prepare batches of samples based on the tests logged in during step one.  Some tests are ready to preform immediately, and those move on to step three.  For others, extractions are needed.  This includes TCLP (toxic characteristic leaching procedure), cyanide extraction, MWMP (meteoric water mobility procedure), and humidity cells.   Some of these extractions take more than one day, like humidity cells, which can continue for a few months up to several years.  Ensuring proper preparations are preformed allows the rest of the analysis to run smoothly.  After the filtering and extractions are completed, it’s time for step three: distillation and digestion.

 

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes at WETLAB?  You drop off a sample, then ten days later, you receive results.  Simple, right?  Well, there is a lot that happens from the time a cooler full of samples comes in the door to the time that you get results.  In this six-part series, Life of a Sample, you will get an inside look at what happens as a sample flows through the lab.  At WETLAB, we pride ourselves on the quality of our work, and the way that we handle your project exemplifies that. 

The first part of sample life begins before a specimen has ever been collected.  We begin with pre-project planning, which involves determining how WETLAB can make your project a reality.  Our stellar project managers work with you to figure out what you need done, and how we can make it happen.  This involves liaising with our lab manager, quality assurance manager, operations manager, and business development manager to ensure that we have the proper resources in place to preform all required and requested testing services.  Once a project scope has been discussed and agreed to, you gather your samples and bring them to lab (or have one of our friendly couriers pick them up).  When the samples arrive in the lab, the real fun starts.

A sample is received, along with a detailed Chain of Custody, by one of our knowledgeable client service representatives.  The sample is then logged in and checked for any initial errors in preservation, temperature, etc.  After that, the samples undergo two levels of quality assurance and control before they ever reach the lab.  The first is primary entry into the laboratory management system.  Once the primary entry is done, the sample is split into the necessary sets, and preserved and/or filtered if needed.  When the samples are in the proper containers for analysis, a second set of eyes reviews them and the initial data entry to ensure accuracy.  After the secondary review, the samples are ready to be released to the lab to begin analysis.  This intensive initial receiving takes about four hours, ensuring plenty of time for the next five steps to occur.  Next up: Step 2, Sample Preparation.

 

 

 

At WETLAB, we try to do everything we can to make things easier for our clients environmental testing needs.  One of the biggest ways we do that is with wide-reaching courier routes that run weekly.  Each of our three offices (Sparks, Elko, and Las Vegas) has their own routes, which makes it easier for clients all over Nevada and parts of California to have their samples analyzed in a timely manner.

For a sample of how far WETLAB travels to better serve you, we’ll take a look at the basic weekly schedule of pick-ups from the Sparks office.

Monday: Herlong, Portola, Grass Valley, North Lake Tahoe

Tuesday: Kirkwood, South Lake Tahoe, East Shore, Yerington

Wednesday: Carson City, Bridgeport, Topaz Lake

Thursday: South Shore, Mt. Rose, North Shore, Winnemucca, Round Mountain, Austin

Friday: Winnemucca upon request

If scheduled ahead of time, WETLAB can also provide basic sampling and off-route pick-up!  And when a storm comes, we make a special storm water route available.

 

Call us today at (775) 355-0202 to see how WETLAB can make your sample pick-up and delivery easier.

Nevada is home to many beautiful, expansive, and green golf courses.  But, Nevada is also a dry, arid desert which is currently going through a severe drought, and there’s no end in sight.  How are these two seemingly irreconcilable realities coexisting?  Well, that’s a multi-faceted answer.

Golf courses go hand-in-hand with Nevada’s hospitality and luxury industries, and companies would be hard pressed to simply let their green investments die a brown, crunchy death.  So companies, and courses, have gotten a little creative.  While they started with the obvious measures of reducing overall usage, and examining pipes for leaks, the reduction was simply was not enough.  Golf courses have now started using treated effluent water as a means for watering their massive lawns.  Many courses in Nevada, especially those lining the Las Vegas strip, have used gray water for several years, but effluent water is a newer usage concept.  Effluent water differs from gray water in that it must be more treated, since it can contain sewage.  Using effluent water, instead of fresh water or even gray water, means a reduction of demand for potable water, which in turn means that our dwindling water supply can hold out a bit longer.

Northern Nevada golf courses have capitalized on the use of treated effluent water as a means to water their grass.  It’s clear that the water-saving measure isn’t negatively impacting the golf courses, too, because the lawns are bright green and thriving.  You just have to drive by Washoe County’s Sierra Sage Golf Course in Stead to see that this is a great way to water the turf.  Sierra Sage gets their water from the City of Reno’s Stead Water Reclamation Facility, where the effluent water is treated to the point where it is no longer dangerous, but still not potable.

Another impact of this ever-worsening drought?  Shorter winters mean more time on the putting green.

 

WETLAB tests effluent water for EPA compliance, and water for golf courses is no exception.  WETLAB will also test all of your runoff and fertilizer samples, call (775) 355-0202 for more information.

Effluent water could soon become part of your normal drinking water in Northern Nevada.  According to KTVN, reclaimed water is around 30% cheaper than potable water, but the problem is that waste water is not drinkable yet. Yet is the key word here, because regulations that define how much the water will need to be treated are working their way through the Nevada state legislature, and lawmakers are hoping to see them adopted by the 2017 session.

As everyone knows, Northern Nevada is suffering a severe drought.  Having another way to reuse water will have a great, positive environmental impact on our already low waterways.  Effluent water is already being used in some ways, mostly to irrigate parks and golf courses, but more could be put back into eventual use by the proposed measure.  The process involves injecting semi-treated water directly into the ground, so that it will later make its way back into our pipes.  This will ease the strain that is currently put on the Truckee River, which will in turn help with our ecosystem.

Effluent water is defined as waste-water, whether treated or not, that flows out from an industrial treatment plant or sewer.  Secondary effluent is that same water that has been treated, but not to the point of purity.  Obviously, the main difference between potable and effluent water is the cleanliness of the water, and its fitness for human consumption.

WETLAB preforms several tests on effluent water for many different clients, including public and private companies.  Some of these tests are Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), which tests how much oxygen demand the effluent water has, and Total Suspended Solids (TSS), which tests the amount of suspended solids within an aqueous sample.  Several other tests are often performed in tandem on effluent water samples, including Total Nitrogen, Nitrate + Nitrite, Ammonia, Total Phosphorous, and Fecal Coliform.  These tests all provide a detailed profile of what exactly is contained in an effluent sample, and allow proprietors to know how to best treat their water.

Singapore and Texas have already implemented effluent-to-drinking-water purification systems, with positive results.  To read more about this program in Nevada, and to see an interesting news report on it, click here.

We are in the process of tripling the space of our semi-volatile organics lab!

Construction is expected to be done mid-August, with the expansion fully functional (hopefully!) by the end of September.  The expansion will nearly triple the square footage of Bruce’s lab, and the new equipment will essentially double capacity.  The new instrument is a GCFID, which is for running TPH analysis (and could in the future run alcohols, gylcols, and qualitative, not just quantitative, TPH), and will be used to do just extract-ables, with the old GCFID being relegated to just purge-ables.  In the old lab, where the instruments currently are, a six-foot fume hood will be installed, and all instruments will be in the expanded area.  This new area will have six “instrument stations,” with counter space and vents, but only three will be used for right now.  This is exciting news because this means there are further opportunities for growth!

This week, TPH and HAA5 sample results may be a bit late, but all result and sample flow will return to normal right after that!  This expansion will help WETLAB nearly double our sample capacity, and will give Bruce some much needed space in his lab!

For questions and queries, please call our client services department at (775) 355-0202.

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.

On January 11^th, 2011 The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation (BMRR) issued a statement clarifying the acceptable methods for the analysis of Weak Acid Dissociable, or “WAD”, cyanide. The statement listed two acceptable methods: ASTM D2036-082 and SM 4500CN I.

Keep in mind this concerns only compliance monitoring samples that are being reported to BMRR. The issued statement doesn’t cover any sample that is not for compliance, or is being reported to any other agency.

Both acceptable methods are manual distillation methods that use a weak acid (glacial acetic acid) to break up easily dissociated cyanide complexes, capture the free cyanide in solution, and then analyze the solution using a few different techniques. These two methods have long been thought to be the most reliable techniques for the quantification of cyanide in waters. BMRR stated that only data obtained using one of these two methods would be acceptable for compliance monitoring.

Western Environmental Testing Laboratory (WETLAB) has been using SM4500CN I for the analysis of WAD cyanide for many years and is currently certified by the State of Nevada, Bureau of Water Quality Planning. Just like any method or technique that WETLAB wishes to use for compliance monitoring sample analysis, we have gone through a rigorous certification program that includes an on-site audit and the analysis of “blind” QC samples.

Over the last decade new techniques have been developed for the analysis of the easily dissociated cyanide complexes that WETLAB hopes become acceptable for BMRR reporting. One specific method is known as Flow Injection Ligand Exchange or F.I.L.E. cyanide. WETLAB is already certified and equipped to use this more efficient and environmentally sound testing method, which would provide clients with quicker turn-around time for results. Should BMRR choose to accept data generated from this technique, WETLAB will contact clients to inform them of our wish to change methodologies.

As always, if you have any questions regarding the information contained in this blog, don’t hesitate to call (775) 355-0202.

One of the national epicenters of water quality monitoring, just minutes away from the WETLAB offices in Sparks, Nevada, is gearing up for even more analysis. Lake Tahoe is known around the world as one of the world’s clearest large alpine lakes — and federal, state and local efforts are all concentrated on restoring and preserving the lake’s astounding clarity intact.

In late November, the regional water board that governs the Tahoe Basin approved an aggressive plan to reduce the amount of fine sediment, phosphorous, and nitrogen entering the lake, which are some of the main culprits behind the lake’s steady clarity decline. Over the next 15 years, up to $1.5 billion could be spent to increase the lake’s clarity from last year’s 68-foot depth, to 80 feet, according to news reports.

For agencies and restoration groups around the lake, the new water quality targets mean more water quality analysis to determine which restoration projects are working and how much sediment, phosphorous, and nitrogen is entering the lake. That analysis and lab work is WETLAB’s specialty. Given the increase in water quality monitoring occurring in Tahoe, WETLAB is reminding agencies and non-profits around Lake Tahoe of WETLAB’s convenient regular sample pick-up and material drop-off service to Lake Tahoe.

A WETLAB employee regularly travels to Lake Tahoe to collect water samples and bring them back to WETLAB’s state-of-the-art Sparks, Nevada laboratory for careful testing and analysis.

A WETLAB representative travels to South Lake Tahoe every Tuesday, and to North Lake Tahoe every Thursday for sample collection and instrument drop-off. WETLAB is also willing to work out other collection days for new and existing clients if possible.

WETLAB is proud to be part of the restoration of one of the nation’s natural wonders.