Laboratory Services

Water and Sediment Quality Laboratory

Water quality testing is an important aspect of environmental monitoring. The quality of water impacts aquatic organisms, the surrounding ecosystem, and can help or harm human initiatives. The physical and chemical properties of sediments and soils directly affect plant growth, biodiversity, erosion rates, and management practices.

Laboratory instrumentation and facilities to study water and sediment quality indicators are of upmost concern to researchers, government agencies, and watershed groups in the region. The laboratory has a full-time director and training protocol and follows USEPA-approved standard methods and strict QA/QC procedures. For more information, please see our Standard Operating Procedures.

Laboratory Equipment

Equipment	Uses	Standard Operating Procedure	User Guide
Fisher Scientific accumet® excel XL25 pH/mV/Temp/Ion Meter	pH, mV, ion concentration, chloride concentration	SOP-008-Chloride Concentrations using Accumet Excel XL25 (2023)	User Guide
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. Quanti-Tray and Quanti-Tray/2000	Quantifying coliforms, E. coli, entericocci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC)	SOP-007-E. coli and Total Coliforms using IDEXX (2023)	User Guide
Oxford X-Met 3000TX Portable XRF Analyzer	Measuring trace elements in soil and sediment	SOP_XRF_XMET3000TXS_Handheld_2007.pdf	User Guide
Niton™ XL3t XRF Analyzer	Measuring trace elements in soil and sediment		User Guide
Oakton® pH 5+ Handheld pH Meter	Measures pH and Temperature in potable, surface, and wastewater	SOP-003-pH Handheld Oakton pH 5+ (2023)	User Guide
Traceable® Portable Conductivity Meter with Calibration	Determination of conductivity in potable, surface, and wastewater	SOP-004-Conductivity using Cole Parmer Portable (2023)	User Guide
Isotemp® Programmable Muffle Furnace	Determination of organic matter	SOP-012-Organic Matter LOI (2023)	User Guide
LS™ 13 320 Laser Diffraction Particle Size Analyzer	Characterize particulates between 10 nanometers - 3000 micrometers	SOP_Laser_Diffraction_LS13320_2008.pdf	User Guide
Sonic Sifters	Rapid separation of dried particles	SOP_Sonic_Sifter_2020.pdf	User Guide
Bartington® MS3 Magnetic Susceptibility Meter	Determination of magnetic susceptibility in dried soil samples	SOP_Magnetic_Susceptibility_2020.pdf	User Guide