How to implement lab-grade accuracy in municipal water testing

Municipal water quality testing has made some considerable advances in recent years. Still, not every water system is as accurate as it could be, even if it falls within local and national regulations. Acceptable minimum standards leave room for contamination that may still prove harmful, so pursuing a higher benchmark is often necessary.

Lab-grade testing accuracy may seem like a lofty goal, but it is more than achievable. By deploying the right technology and workflow strategies, municipalities can ensure cleaner, safer drinking water for the citizens they serve.

Automate water quality testing

Automation is one of the most impactful changes you can make in water quality testing. Manual processes cannot compare to the precision and efficiency an automated solution provides, especially when dealing with large volumes.

Because automation reacts to real-time hard data and does not get tired or distracted, its readings are far more reliable. Some municipalities have seen a 96% reduction in service calls and a 21% decrease in inactive accounts consuming water simply by automating meter reads. Using automated technologies for these processes also lets you review historical data easily to notice any irregularities or maintenance issues.

Automated quality sensors and reporting tools do come with a significant upfront investment. However, the resulting time and accuracy improvements more than compensate for it, leading to long-term savings.

Capitalize on the IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is another technology worth considering in the pursuit of higher water quality. IoT sensors provide the real-time data that automation requires to remain accurate. Even in a nonautomated setting, IoT connectivity streamlines reporting and boosts reading accuracy by making hard data readily available from any connected device.

IoT solutions’ core benefit is their ability to generate real-time data and make it remotely accessible. However, they can also drive higher testing accuracy by automating data transfers. Today’s IoT water monitors can eliminate data duplication and related errors by automatically sending readings to their corresponding databases, ensuring all quality records reflect what you have actually measured.

You can also deploy IoT solutions to monitor equipment health factors. Getting early warnings about breakdowns or other unusual activity can help you avoid accuracy errors from machine malfunctions.

Use a wider range of testing equipment

Water quality testing accuracy is also a matter of covering more ground. Even with highly reliable equipment, you may miss some contaminant levels because your tests are not comprehensive. Few machines can detect everything with equal accuracy in every instance, so a greater variety of methods will produce better results.

Chemical strips and spectrophotometers are useful but may miss some concentrations. Consider pairing these with a microanalytical balance to cover more ground. Microanalytical balances are precise down to 0.1 milligrams, yet they are easy to overlook because organizations may not consider the impact of contaminants on sample mass.

Some machines test samples along multiple measurements simultaneously. In other cases, you may need to pass water through separate tools in sequence. Either option can be valuable, as measurement variety is the key factor here.

Prioritize calibration

Calibration is another easily overlooked aspect of water quality testing. Using reliable and diverse measurement tools is critical, but this equipment will only produce trustworthy long-term results if it stays within optimal operating parameters. Consequently, water companies must address sensor drift before it leads to errors.

Automated tools are so accurate because they base every reading off the same benchmarks. However, that only works when those standards and the machinery’s ability to interpret them remain true to life. Regular, proactive calibration is the key to achieving such lasting precision.

The easiest way to address this issue is to recalibrate all monitoring equipment at regular intervals, according to its manufacturer’s recommendations. A more complex but beneficial solution is to automate calibration warnings. IoT sensors can warn technicians whenever they detect signs of wear or sensor drift, helping you avoid errors that do not follow a predictable timeline.

Be proactive about maintenance

Similarly, lab-grade testing accuracy requires proactive maintenance. Sensor calibration aside, all machinery is only reliable when it works as intended. Wear and tear can also affect tool precision before the need for repair is outwardly evident, so run-to-failure approaches are insufficient.

Schedule-based maintenance is not ideal, as many machines do not follow predictable breakdown patterns. This leaves you with two primary options — condition-based repairs, which fix equipment when real-time performance data indicates the need, and predictive maintenance (PdM), which predicts when breakdowns will occur in the future.

The best strategy depends on your specific organization and tools. Condition-based maintenance is less likely to produce false positives, but PdM can achieve greater uptime and cost savings that’s not an issue. You can determine the optimal path by considering your machines’ wear predictability, repair costs and data availability.

Consider the challenges of monitoring technologies

New technology can be a massive help in improving quality testing accuracy, but it also carries some unique concerns. As such, you can only use it to its full advantage when you account for its most significant drawbacks.

Cybersecurity is a prominent risk with IoT systems. However, you can provide the necessary protection by keeping IoT devices on separate networks from more sensitive endpoints, encrypting their traffic, automating updates and requiring multifactor authentication. Security training for all employees interacting with these devices will also help.

Costs and complexity can also be a concern with IoT or automated solutions. The key here is to identify a single technology and application that will yield the biggest improvements and invest there first. Only expand tech initiatives after the first rollout shows a positive return. Thorough strategic planning and employee training are also necessary.

Go beyond water quality testing requirements

Another area where testing often falls short is setting standards too low. While meeting regulatory requirements is the most important target for water quality monitoring, legal boundaries are an imperfect measure of clean or safe water.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a great example of why you should go above and beyond regulatory benchmarks. At least 44 million people in the U.S. have PFAS in their drinking water, and regulators have only tested one-third of the nation’s water. PFA regulations are relatively new, but these contaminants may have health consequences. Consequently, it’s safest to monitor for and remove them anyway.

Municipalities should set acceptable contaminant levels above what the law requires. That applies to restricted substance concentrations and in measuring substances not covered by the law.

Embrace continuous improvement

Finally, you should recognize that what works well today may not work tomorrow. Likewise, as scientists conduct more research, the industry’s understanding of what qualifies as “safe” drinking water may change. As such, ongoing review and optimization are necessary.

At least once annually, review current benchmarks, comparing them to new research. Ask if there are any areas where your water quality testing workflows could adapt to meet higher standards. Similarly, you should look at your tech investments to see if there are any needed upgrades or new technologies that offer greater advantages.

What is safe to drink and what isn't may not change, but the nation’s knowledge of those factors and the ability to ensure cleanliness do. A spirit of continuous improvement ensures your community will always have the safest water available.

Water quality testing can always advance

There is always room for optimization and assurance in water quality testing. Even if you meet a high standard today, you can find areas to improve your operations, either in terms of accuracy, efficiency or long-term reliability. Recognizing these opportunities is the first step toward better serving your municipality.