If you are a budding business, there are a few things you need to know in order to avoid government troubles. Most of these are tests and certificates that make sure your operations, factories, and business as a whole are following important environmental protocols. One of these in particular is water testing services, which determine that the quality of water is up to standard and not causing any environmental harm.

Water is indispensable in any sector or industry in India. It’s used in production/manufacturing or operations in one way or another. That’s why every business or conglomerate needs quality checks to avert government fines and function under environmental guidelines. The primary objective of these tests is to work towards detecting how contaminated your water is with various metals, pesticides, physical, and chemical contents, no matter how low in concentration they are.

In some cases, you only get government consent when there are no contaminants in your water resources. Besides, poor water quality can impact your brand image, especially if you are a company whose products involve water in producing or manufacturing.

 

There are several intensive tests that help you do this, and many need an able lab facility that carries them out precariously. Along with these, a few practical tests can monitor the chemicals & water quality. Here are some test formats utilized to carry out a thorough investigation of water quality testing through water testing services:

Does your Business need these Water Testing Services?

1. Drinking Water

Drinking Water in an industrial context refers to the water used to prepare any food or drink. It’s essential to get a water analysis test for this, especially to detect bacteria or nitrates. It’s even more important for beverage and food manufacturing companies, as contaminants found in your products can lead to government and manufacturing bans, as well as a huge hit to your brand image.

2. Potable Water

The difference between drinking water and potable water is that while drinking water can be used in manufacturing, potable water is water that is safe to be consumed directly as drinking water. While there is not a major difference between the two, as an industry it’s more than important to get water analysis tests done for health and hygiene purposes.

3. Effluent/Sewage Water Testing

Effluent water is the discharge of sewage water produced in a factory or by an organization. This is one water testing service you absolutely cannot skip. For environmental reasons, your effluent water must be deemed non-contaminating enough to be discharged into a water body. This is a rigorous test that involves detecting organic, chemical, biological, physical, and solid compounds.

4. Borewell Water

Essentially, Borewell water is rainwater that migrates deep into the ground and resides between the layers of soil and rocks. This water is multipurpose in India, with its usage extending to drinking, bathing, taps, etc. It’s also used largely in industries, where surface water resources are limited. While this water is mostly safe for consumption, borewell water can contain significant amounts of metals such as fluoride, lead, and arsenic, and can also be a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses.

5. Ground/Surface Water

Surface water testing employs a lot of uses- especially in the industrial context. It’s used for consuming, cleaning, spraying, irrigation, etc. The quality of water directly affects human and environmental health.

 

Water Analysis Tests That Can Be Done On Your Own:

1. Test Strips

These are a part of on-field and practical water testing services. These are extremely easy to use but are not always accurate or in-depth. As the name suggests, they use a small strip, usually single-use, to determine the number of chemicals in the water. To carry out this test, you will have to hold the strip in the water sample and move it around for a few minutes until it catches a color. Then you can use the color guide to determine the concentration of chemicals if they are present.

2. Color Disk Kits

Unlike Test strips, where you could also hold the strip in a flowing stream of water, Color Disk Kits are a type of format of water testing services that need a separate water sample. They are more complex, costlier, and time-consuming than test strips, but also more accurate. In this kit, you usually receive a plastic tube/container to contain your sample, a viewing box with a color disk, and a powder pack/ soluble to mix in your sample. Once you have mixed the soluble and the deemed quantity of your water sample, you can place it in the viewing box and determine the concentration of chemicals with the help of the color disk.

3. Handheld- Digital Kits

Apart from the aforementioned kits, many colorimeters, digital meters, and photometers are also available as formats for water testing services. As they are more complex, they are far more expensive and also more fragile. Often, they need several electrical components as well. But this is also why the results are the most precise and accurate.

Do keep in mind that these tests and methods are good for small-scale tests and don’t replace Lab-tests for large-scale industries. Most companies need to send water samples to NABL Accredited Labs to reassure the overall water quality. The tests mentioned above are not headed by experts and thus lack advanced testing methods. NABL Accredited Labs makes sure to offer a precise report that is preferable and more appropriate for government offices.

Now that you have a fair idea of the types and formats of water testing services, the question arises, which chemical should you exactly be looking out for? Water quality testing includes a few specific tests- to determine a few more specific chemicals that may be swimming around in your water! But what chemicals don’t fit the water quality parameters?

Chemical components like fluoride, arsenic, and nitrate in high levels can be hazardous to human health. Apart from these, chlorinated water models must monitor 2 chemical components- chlorine and pH. Here is how to determine if these chemicals exist in your water:

1. Fluoride:

For Fluoride, a color disk kit is available. In this, make sure you opt out for digital colorimeters as they are very accurate.

2. Arsenic:

The presence of arsenic can affect drinking water. There are not many portable field testing options available to determine the concentration of arsenic, which is why lab tests are preferred.

3. Nitrate:

For Nitrate testing, you can use either a color disk or test strips. With this monitoring, you can also test water quality for agricultural and human waste.

4. Chlorine:

Chlorine content can be determined using a wide multitude of tests including color disks and test strips. Apart from these, there are many specific water testing service kits designed specifically for swimming pools as well.

5. pH:

This is one of the most common chemicals for which many water testing services exist. An abrupt change in pH level can indicate pollution. To carry out a pH test, you can utilize pH test strips or colour disks.

More chemical parameters you should look out for include the monitoring of Iron & Manganese, both of which are metals, and “Total Dissolved Solids” or TDS. These can cause smell and odor issues.

6. TDS:

TDS stands for overall total dissolved solids and comprises a mixture of inorganic salts such as chloride, sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. You will need a digital meter that will test the conductivity of water to determine TDS in water.

7. Iron & Manganese:

For these metals, you can use either test strips, color disks, or digital instruments that are portable. Any field test with a digital meter will suffice for the testing of Iron & Manganese.

Conclusion:

A few more water testing services you can consider include testing for dissolved oxygen, chloride, organic carbon levels, agrochemicals, alkalinity (hardness of water), or mining or industrial contaminants. It is also essential to test for heavy metals such as mercury, lead, chromium, and copper.

As mentioned above, failing to carry out these tests can cause costs and fines. Here is a blog on why industrial water quality testing is important. To avoid legal environmental repercussions, simply contact Green Solution! For over 10+ years, our NABL-accredited lab has carried out 600+ water testing procedures every day. If you are in and around Pune, call us today for a free consultation!