Water Quality Testing Schedule

The water quality testing schedule is mandatory and must be adhered to. The World Health Organization has issued guidelines for drinking water quality, a three-volume report. The World Health Organization recognizes that very strict standards cannot be used on a global scale, so it has developed a set of guidelines for more than sixty standards. Most countries have their guidelines or standards.

Qualitative and quantitative measurements are needed from time to time to monitor the quality of water from different sources of supply on an ongoing basis. To take appropriate measures on time. Unreliable results exacerbate pollution problems when corrective action cannot be taken on time. Qualified technicians must carry out sampling and monitoring tests.

Why you should test your water quality

Water is essential for life. However, water-containing contaminants can cause adverse health effects. Types of water contaminants include physical contaminants (such as sediments), chemical contaminants (such as nitrogen, pesticides, and salt), biological contaminants (such as viruses and bacteria), and radioactive contaminants (such as uranium).

Groundwater Wells

Contamination may arise from contaminants entering the groundwater table at some distance or from sewage entering the groundwater well itself through cracked or corroded casings. In this case, testing should be carried out at least monthly.

Municipal Water Lines

The supply may be contaminated at the source or through corroded pipelines. Mixtures with sewer lines due to faulty pipes are known to occur frequently. Complete testing should be carried out semiannually, and authorities should be notified when results indicate contamination.

Water Tanks

Tank structures are susceptible to bacterial growth if residual chlorine levels are low or absent. Testing may not be necessary if regular cleaning is carried out. Bacteriological testing should be carried out at least semiannually.

Types of Tests

While the details of sampling, testing, and analysis are beyond the scope of this guide, the following is a general description of the importance of water quality tests that are typically performed.

• Test procedures and parameters can be grouped into physical, chemical, bacteriological and microscopic categories.
• Physical tests refer to properties that can be detected by the senses.
• Chemical tests determine the amounts of mineral and organic materials that affect water quality.
• Bacteriological tests show the presence of bacteria, a characteristic of fecal contamination.

Physical tests

Color, turbidity, total solids, dissolved solids, suspended solids, odor, and taste are recorded.

The presence of Color in water may be due to the presence of minerals such as iron and manganese or to materials of plant origin such as algae and weeds. Color tests indicate the effectiveness of the water treatment system.

Turbidity in water is due to suspended solids and colloidal materials. It may be due to soil erosion from dredging or to the growth of microorganisms. High turbidity makes filtration expensive. If solids are present in wastewater, pathogens may be encapsulated in the particles and escape the action of chlorine during disinfection.

Odor and taste are associated with the presence of microorganisms; decaying organic matter including weeds and algae; or industrial waste containing ammonia, phenols, halogens, and hydrocarbons. This taste is transferred to fish, making them unpalatable. While chlorination reduces the odor and taste of some pollutants, it can produce an unpleasant odor itself when added to water contaminated with detergents, algae, and other waste.

Chemical Tests

Physical tests assess pH, hardness, the presence of a selection of chemical parameters, biocides, highly toxic chemicals, and biochemical oxygen consumption.

Ph level is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions. It is an indicator of the relative acidity or alkalinity of the water. Values ​​above 9.5 indicate high alkalinity while values ​​below 3 indicate acidity. Low pH values ​​aid in effective chlorination but cause corrosion problems. Values ​​below 4 generally do not support organisms in a marine environment. The pH level of drinking water should be between 6.5 and 8.5. The pH level of marina water can range from 6 to 9.

Biochemical oxygen consumption: Refers to the amount of oxygen required by microorganisms to fix degradable organic matter under aerobic conditions. A high BOD means that there is less oxygen to support life and indicates organic contamination.

Bacteriological Tests

For technical and economic reasons, analytical procedures for detecting harmful organisms are impractical for routine water quality monitoring. It should be recognized that all that bacteriological analysis can prove is that at the time of testing, contamination or bacteria indicative of fecal contamination can or cannot be demonstrated in a given water sample using specific culture methods. In addition, the results of routine bacteriological testing should always be interpreted in the light of accurate knowledge of the water supply, including its source, treatment, and distribution.

Whenever changes in conditions lead to a deterioration in the quality of the supplied water, or even if they indicate an increased likelihood of contamination, the frequency of bacteriological testing should be increased, so that a series of samples from well-selected sites can identify the hazard and allow remedial action to be taken. Whenever a sanitary survey, including visual inspection, indicates that the water supply is clearly contaminated, remedial action should be taken, regardless of the results of bacteriological testing. For un-piped rural supplies, sanitary surveys may often be the only form of testing that can be done regularly.

The recognition that microbial infections can be transmitted through water has led to the development of routine testing methods to ensure that water intended for human consumption is free of fecal contamination. Although it is now possible to detect the presence of many pathogens in water, the methods of isolation and enumeration are often complex and time-consuming. It is therefore impractical to monitor drinking water for all possible microbial pathogens that may occur with contamination.

Read more about Different types of water quality tests

What to do after a water test

If you test your water quality and detect some contaminants, there are ways to mitigate the problem. Depending on the severity of the contamination. You can install a water filter that connects directly to your tap or you can install a filter under the sink.

The most effective solution is to get a reverse osmosis (RO) water filtration system. By working at the molecular level to remove contaminants, reverse osmosis filters can dramatically improve the purity of your water.

For more serious problems caused by your home’s pipes or well. You may need to consider replacing some or all of the system. Of course, this won’t be good news for anyone—but it’s worth knowing that your home’s water is clean and safe.