When residents turn on the tap, a team at the York-Durham Regional Environmental Laboratory (REL) is working behind the scenes to help keep municipal water safe. The laboratory provides analytical services for municipal drinking water and wastewater, as well as industrial monitoring programs.
Jointly owned and operated by York and Durham Regions, the facility is accredited by the Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation (CALA) to ISO/IEC 17025 and licensed by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Laboratory testing plays a fundamental role in protecting public health, maintaining water quality and supporting responsible wastewater management. For drinking water, samples are examined throughout the treatment process and distribution system to help verify that the water meets applicable provincial standards. Wastewater samples collected at different stages of treatment show how effectively pollutants are being removed and whether adjustments to the treatment processes may be necessary. The laboratory also analyzes groundwater, surface water, stormwater and industrial wastewater to support environmental monitoring programs.
Each sample follows a careful journey. The Lab Administration team first reviews the sample and its documentation, then enters it into the laboratory information management system and assigns a unique identifier so it can be tracked from arrival to final reporting. Samples are stored in a walk-in fridge, and analysts ensure testing is done within the acceptable hold time. Some samples need preparation such as extraction or preservation; others go directly into specialized analytical instruments. Quality control checks, data reviews and verification steps run throughout the process before results are released.
“The testing done at the lab serves as an important scientific link between water treatment operations, environmental protection and the communities we serve,” says Charu Aggarwal, a Laboratory Technician in the Organics Department. “Every step is important because the people using our results need to be able to trust the information we are providing.”
Behind every result is a team from scientific backgrounds including chemistry, microbiology and environmental science. Inorganic chemistry analysts measure nutrients, solids and other chemical characteristics; organic chemistry analysts identify and quantify organic compounds, often at trace concentrations; and microbiology analysts detect and measure micro-organisms that can indicate potential contamination.
Some instruments can detect contaminants at concentrations as small as parts per billion, roughly equivalent to finding a single drop of water in a large backyard swimming pool.
More information on how the Region of Durham treats and distributes safe drinking water is available at durham.ca/water.
Source: Region of Durham
Illustration created for AllAboutDurham; not a photograph of a real place, person, or event.
Source: Region of Durham
Featured image: illustration, not documentary photography. Original editorial illustration created for AllAboutDurham; not a photograph of the laboratory, a real person, or a real place.
