Water testing


Water testing is a broad description for various procedures used to analyze water quality. Millions of water quality tests are carried out daily to fulfil regulatory requirements and to maintain safety.
Testing may be performed to evaluate:
Government regulations related to water testing and water quality for some major countries is given below.

China

Ministry of Environmental Protection

The Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China is the nation's environmental protection department charged with the task of protecting China's air, water, and land from pollution and contamination. Directly under the State Council, it is empowered and required by law to implement environmental policies and enforce environmental laws and regulations. Complementing its regulatory role, it funds and organizes research and development. See Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China.

Regulatory challenges and debates

In late 2009, a survey was carried out by China Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to assess the water quality of urban supplies in China's cities, which revealed that "at least 1,000" water treatment plants out of more than 4,000 plants surveyed at the county level and above failed to comply with government requirements. The survey results were never formally released to the public, but in 2012, China's Century Weekly published the leaked survey data. In response, Wang Xuening, a health ministry official, released figures derived from a pilot monitoring scheme in 2011 and suggested that 80% of China's urban tap water was up to standard.
China's new drinking water standards involve 106 indicators. Of China's 35 major cities, only 40% of cities have the capacity to test for all 106 indicators. The department in charge of local water and the health administration department will enter into a discussion to determine results for more than 60 of the new measures; hence it is not required to test the water using every indicator. The grading of water quality is based on an overall average of 95% to fulfil government requirements. The frequency of water quality inspections at water treatment plants is twice yearly.

Pakistan

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources

Established in 1964, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources aims to conduct, organize, coordinate and promote research in all aspects of water resources. As a national research organization, it undertakes and promotes applied and basic research in different disciplines of water sector.

Recent developments

In March 2013, Minister for Science and Technology Mir Changez Khan Jamali notified the National Assembly that groundwater samples collected revealed that only 15-18% samples were deemed safe for drinking both in urban and rural areas in Pakistan. The Ministry has created 24 Water Quality Testing Laboratories across Pakistan, developed and commercialized water quality test kits, water filters, water disinfection tablets and drinking water treatment sachets, conducted training for 2,660 professionals of water supply agencies and surveyed 10,000 water supply schemes out of a grand total of 12,000 schemes.

United Kingdom

Drinking Water Inspectorate

The Drinking Water Inspectorate is a section of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set up to regulate the public water supply companies in England and Wales. Water testing in England and Wales can be conducted at the environmental health office at the local authority. See Drinking Water Inspectorate.

United States

Environmental Protection Agency

The principal U.S. federal laws governing water testing are the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issues regulations under each law specifying analytical test methods. EPA's annual Regulatory Agenda sets a schedule for specific objectives on improving its oversight of water testing.
;Drinking water analysis
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, public water systems are required to regularly monitor their treated water for contaminants. Water samples must be analyzed using EPA-approved testing methods, by laboratories that are certified by EPA or a state agency.
The 2013 revised Total Coliform Rule and the 1989 Total Coliform Rule are the only microbial drinking water regulations that apply to all public water systems. The revised rule highlights the frequency and timing of microbial testing by water systems based on population served, system type, and source water type. It also places a legal limit on the level for Escherichia coli. Potential health threats must be disclosed to EPA or the appropriate state agency, and public notification is required in some circumstances.
Methods for measuring acute toxicity usually take between 24 and 96 hours to identify contaminants in water supplies.
;Wastewater analysis
All facilities in the United States that discharge wastewater to surface waters must obtain a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, a Clean Water Act program administered by EPA and state agencies. The facilities covered include sewage treatment plants, industrial and commercial plants, military bases and other facilities. Most permittees are required to regularly collect wastewater samples and analyze them for compliance with permit requirements, and report the results either to EPA or the state agency.

Private wells

Private wells are not regulated by the federal government. In general, private well owners are responsible for testing their wells. Some state or local governments regulate well construction and may require well testing. Generally well testing required by local governments is limited to a handful of contaminants including coliform and E. Coli bacteria and perhaps a few predominant local contaminants such as nitrates or arsenic. EPA publishes test methods for contaminants that it regulates under the SDWA.

Publication of test methods

test methods have been published by government agencies, private research organizations and international standards organizations for ambient water, wastewater and drinking water. Approved published methods must be used when testing to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements.

Homeland security

The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7, issued December 7, 2003 by the United States Department of Homeland Security, designated EPA as the sector-specific agency for the water sector's critical infrastructure protection activities. HSPD-7 was replaced by Presidential Policy Directive 21 on February 12, 2013. All EPA activities related to water security are carried out in consultation with DHS. Possible threats to water quality include contamination with deadly agents, such as cyanide, and physical attacks such as the release of toxic gaseous chemicals.

Regulatory challenges and debates

Hydraulic fracturing
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 created a loophole that exempts companies drilling for natural gas from disclosing the chemicals involved in fracturing operations that would normally be required under federal clean water laws. The loophole is commonly known as the "Halliburton loophole" because Dick Cheney, the former chief executive officer of Halliburton, was reportedly instrumental in its passage. Although the Safe Drinking Water Act excludes hydraulic fracturing from the Underground Injection Control regulations, the use of diesel fuel during hydraulic fracturing is still regulated. State oil and gas agencies may issue additional regulations for hydraulic fracturing. States or EPA have the authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate discharge of produced waters from hydraulic fracturing operations.
In December 2011, federal environment officials scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing for the first time in central Wyoming. EPA stated that the water supply contained at least 10 compounds known to be used in fracking fluids. The findings in the report contradicted arguments by the drilling industry on the safety of the fracturing process, such as the hydrologic pressure that naturally forces fluids downwards instead of upwards. EPA also commented that the pollution from 33 abandoned oil and gas waste pits were responsible for some degree of minor groundwater pollution in the vicinity.
In February 2013, the state of Illinois introduced the Illinois Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act, H.B. 2615, which imposes strict controls on fracturing companies, such as chemical disclosure requirements and water testing requirements. The bill includes baseline and periodic post-frack testing of potentially affected waters, such as surface water and groundwater sources near fracturing wells, to identify contamination associated with hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing wells will be closed if fracturing fluid is released outside of the shale rock formation being fractured.