The Laboratory Practices Committee section of the Nebraska Water Environment Association (NWEA) was formed in 1996. The committee’s objective at the inception was to act as a service to water quality laboratory professionals in the state of Nebraska. Specifically, the committee decided to assist the NWEA by providing topics and speakers discussing laboratory issues at NWEA events. In addition, the Laboratory committee began a mentoring program available to anyone needing assistance with laboratory procedures. Additional information on this program can be found in Appendix C of this manual.

In July of 1998, the Laboratory committee decided a basic laboratory procedure manual would be helpful to association members. This manual provides basic information on the most commonly performed laboratory procedures, quality control and equipment. At the end of each analysis section there will be an abbreviated form of the method with check boxes. This can be copied and used at the bench while performing the given analysis.

This manual was prepared by members of the Nebraska Water Environment Association Laboratory Practices Committee: Tom Bettles; Tim Burns; Mary Jo Crowl; Brad Gilbert; Nancy Jenny; Jerry King; Daryl Kottwitz; Ken Kroeger; Jennifer Miller; Lori Paulsen; and Rick Shibata.

The committee would like to thank the Kimble Glass Company for providing some of the pictures that are part of this manual.

Sample handling and analysis referenced in this manual are in accordance with Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 136 (40 CFR 136) and Title 21, Effluent Guidelines and Standards, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality at the time of publication. There is no reason to believe that these will change dramatically in the near future, but the user should understand these limitations.

In some instances, a manufacturer’s name or product name is used as a reference. These are not to be construed as an endorsement and any item with equivalent characteristics may be used. Your laboratory supplier should be able to help find suitable supplies.

The procedures listed in this laboratory manual are based upon the methods published in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. Standard Methods (as it will be cited in this manual) has been prepared and published jointly by American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF). The twentieth edition of Standard Methods was published in 1998.

Our goal is not to offer a manual that replaces governmental regulations or Standard Methods. Instead, it is written as an accompaniment. Many times Standard Methods is unclear or assumes that the reader has a certain level of laboratory knowledge. The Laboratory Practices Committee has attempted to write the procedures in a way so that all readers understand the material presented.

We plan to make additions to the manual in the future; thus the manual is available in a three-ring format to allow additional pages to be added as they become available. Appendix G of this manual has a registration form to allow us to notify manual owners of updates and errata.

This manual is also available on the World Wide Web at nwea.gen.ne.us/ in Adobe^® Acrobat^® form. Use of the web version of the manual will also require the user to also download the Adobe^® Acrobat^® reader at adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Additional copies may be obtained by photocopying this manual or by printing files downloaded from the website. Any copies that do not include this material in its entirety must note that these methods do not stand on their own and cannot be cited to meet regulatory requirements. Charges for distribution of copies of this manual may not exceed actual costs for printing and shipping this material.

If you have any suggestions or requests for additional information to be added to the manual, please contact the Laboratory Practices committee chairman. If any member of the association would like to join the Laboratory Practices Committee, please contact the chairman or any of the committee members.

Conversion Factors

Metric English

Length

1 cm = 0.01 m 1 in = 2.540 cm

1 mm = 0.001 m 1 meter = 39.37 in

Volume

1 mL = 1 cc (cubic centimeter) = 0.001 L 1 liter = 1.057 qt.

Mass

1 mg = 0.001 g 1 lb. = 453 g

To convert Fahrenheit temperatures to Celsius and Celsius temperatures to Fahrenheit

 

Boiling point of water 100° C 212° F

Freezing point of water 0° C 32° F