Developing and Implementing Standardized Quality Protocols in a

DW Chemistry Lab

Julius Enriquezenriquez.julius@epa.gov

USEPA7th Africa Water Week Libreville, GabonSlides are for training purposes only; The views expressed in these slides are those of the author[s] and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

A Need to Implement Quality Assurance into Environmental Monitoring of Drinking Water

How do you ensure that drinking water is safe?• Implement a monitoring plan for pollutants• Implement a quality system in the drinking water

lab which includes – training of staff, – validating chemistry methods and data– having reliable instrumentation for monitoring– Proper documentation

Common Chemical Pollutants to Monitor• Iron, Manganese Arsenic, Uranium, Fluoride,

Lead and Chromium, Mercury

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*2017 Cincinnati DW Report

Example of an annual report from a Drinking Water utility in the USA*

USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

Common Water Quality Parameters Monitored by GWCL *

PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS Parameter Parameter Parameter

pH Magnesium Hardness Manganese

Conductivity Chloride FluorideSalinity Total Iron PhosphateTotal Dissolved Solids Calcium Zinc

Colour Sodium BariumSilica Magnesium PotassiumTurbidity Bicarbonate NitrateAlkalinity (as CaCO3)

Carbonate Nitrite

Total Hardness Total Suspended Solids Ammonia

Calcium Hardness Copper Sulphate* Based Ghana Water Central Laboratory (GWCL) reports and bench sheets

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On-site Assessment of the Chemistry Lab at the Ghana Water Central Lab (GWCL)

• Need to preserve sample integrity• Need updated, validated and approved Standard

Operating Procedures for analytical methods (chemistry and microbiology)

• Need a training program for staff that incorporates the QA requirements for analysis

• Need to maintain and calibrate apparatus, with documentation

• Need a trained staff to validate and check data, reports and document this

• Others:– implement QA system– a need to do performance audit– a need for records management

HACH bench scale spectrophotometer

USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

Timelines

October 2016 Auditor Training Workshop on Analytical Methods (Microbiology, Chemistry, Quality Assurance/Quality

Control Audits)

February 2017 Drafted Laboratory Quality ManualLaboratory activities- Microbiology and Chemistry

August 2017 Continued drafting Laboratory Quality ManualHands-on Lab Training (Microbiology and Chemistry)

April 2018 Finalized the Laboratory Quality Manual, with signature pending.Hands-on Lab Training Microbiology and Chemistry

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Feb 2017 (Chemistry) training

• 2 days of laboratory activities (in French and English), at the Ghana Water Central Lab staff explained their procedures for:

» importance of written sampling SOP» sample handling (proper containers, proper

logbook entries, sample labelling, customer sample receipt and documentation),

» use of UV-Vis spectrophotometer, » calculations and data validations.

• Participants were asked to comment on the GWCL procedures

• Participant survey indicated desire for more lengthy, hands-on lab training.

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USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

August 2017 Chemistry Hands-on TrainingGhana Water Company Central Laboratory

Chemistry Training on:– Method validation on the

i. use of HACH instrument (spectrophotometer)

ii. Wet Chemistry testing– Preserving Sample

Integrity (forms, preservation)

– Data/Calculation validation

– Record Keeping– Groups run unknown

samples

Training Schedule Sheet

Training modules were designed to be accomplished in 1 ½ hours, with each group rotating through each module

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USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

Worksheet Example for a Chemistry Training

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USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

Schematic for an Analysis

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Each Step in the Analysiinvolves embedding a quality control (QC) check before proceeding to the next step. QC has to pass within limits before proceeding

Problem in QC has to beidentified and corrected

s

Start Calibrate

QC1 check Ok?

Run 20 Samples

More Samples? End

Identifyand

correctproblem

Discard results for last set of samples

QC Check, Ok?

Y

N

Y

Y

N

Y

N

QC1 - quality control

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Observations after the Aug 2017 Trainingat GWCL (April 2018)

• Sampling Integrity– Chain of Custody developed– Sample log sheets, indicating preservatives

• Training– Staff trained and validated on some of the analytical

methods; documentation of training kept on files.– Trained staff helped in training at Weija plant

• Started SOP updates• Staff started documenting maintenance and

calibration of instruments. • Although further improvement still needed, lab has

started documenting lab activities

USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

April/May 2018 Training and Workshop Weija Headworks Plant

• Training on the Water Treatment Processes• Jar test (coagulation), pH, turbidity, hardness

• About 25 people participated, divided into groups.

• Training was divided into 4 modules on each day (2.5 days)

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Chemistry Exercise at Weija Headworks Plant

USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

Recommendations for the Chemistry Lab

• Promote collaborations within different laboratory testing centers– cost sharing, e.g. chemicals, instrumentation– equipment maintenance (HACH)– prepare performance testing chemicals– Audits

• Certification/Training on Chemistry analytical methods and process treatment within the different Ghana water utilities – train the trainer

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Dr. Mark Rodgersrodgers.mark@epa.gov

Marilyn Maycockmaycock.Marilyn@epa.gov

Julius Enriquezenriquez.julius@epa.gov

USEPA, 7th Africa Water Week Libreville, Gabon

References

• https://www.nemi.gov/home/• Manual for the Certification of Laboratories Analyzing Drinking

Water, 5th edition, https://www.epa.gov/dwlabcert/laboratory-certification-manual-drinking-water

• Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water, 22nd ed

• www.epa.gov• https://www.epa.gov/quality/training-courses-quality-

assurance-and-quality-control-activities

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