Over and over again we tell people to make certain the water testing lab they choose has the proper accreditation… because we know for a fact that all labs do not perform equally!
As an example, check out this article on a lab in Pennsylvania that failed to comply with established procedures and as a result will now lose most of its accreditation for drinking and waste water testing. Oh, and they will have to pay a $20,000 fine, too.
WILKES-BARRE, PA, May 10, 2012 — Northeastern Environmental Laboratory (NEEL) of Scranton will pay a $20,000 fine and voluntarily surrender the majority of its accreditations for drinking water and wastewater management and testing after Pennsylvania DEP inspectors found several violations.
Discovered during non-routine visits in September 2011, violations included failure to properly train staff; failure to oversee and supervise testing of water samples; failure to maintain records; and failure to adhere to proper collection, receipt and handling of samples.
The lab’s certificate of accreditation expired on April 1, and the business subsequently notified DEP that it will not seek re-accreditation. ( source )
So… what have we learned from this? Nothing. We already KNEW to check a lab’s accreditation before allowing them to test a water sample and render a professional, analytical opinion. We posted THIS article as a reminder to everyone else.
Need your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory? If so, you may want to take a look at the WaterCheck Water Test that tests for 103 potential drinking water contaminants (including a number of commonly found pesticides and VOC’s)… and gets analyzed by a certified water testing laboratory. View National Testing Laboratories’ State Certifications.
State Certified National Testing Laboratories
103 Contaminant Test Kit
