We’re thrilled to have this space to continue testing and serving our Pennsylvania customers. For 135 years, Aqua has focused on offering safe and reliable water, and every step we take is to ensure we can continue to provide for our communities.
Introducing Our New Environmental Laboratory
In case you missed it, we recently opened our brand-new Aqua Environmental Laboratory in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania! Our team of brilliant chemists and microbiologists are already hard at work, helping use ensure the quality of the water we provide to our customers and the wastewater that we return to the environment.
At a whopping 14,700 square feet, this laboratory is more than double the size of our previous lab. But what exactly is inside this new facility? Keep reading to learn all about the four labs that make up our new high-tech space.
First, our Research Lab closely follows unregulated contaminant developments in order to keep us prepared for things like upcoming regulations, monitoring, and testing and treatment studies. Inside this area, we utilize technology that measures contaminants in parts per trillion, which is the equivalent of one drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools!
Next, our Inorganic Chemistry Lab is our largest lab with the most staff. Here, we test drinking water for appearance, taste, and safety, while we test wastewater to ensure it’s cleaner than the rivers and streams we return it to. The technology used in this lab is able to test for minerals and metals in water that could affect public health and the environment.
Our Microbiology Lab tests the bacteriological safety of drinking water and wastewater. This is where we look for microorganisms that can affect water quality for both drinking water and the environment.
Finally, our Organic Chemistry Lab performs some of our most complicated testing. Here we look for disinfection byproducts, which are a result of organic matter mixing with chlorine-based disinfectants, and volatile organic compounds, which are chemicals found in products like paints, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and refrigerants. These compounds can be harmful at certain levels, so our experts take great care to precisely measure them.
In addition to our extensive testing in each specific area, our laboratory is only one of two that are accredited in Pennsylvania to test for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have been linked to numerous health concerns. We’ve been committed to testing every one of our water sources for contamination since the addition of this testing capability in 2016.