Here at Hydroserve Technologies, INC., we’ve been in the business of clean water, water tests, and water treatment since 1993. From boiler cleaning and refurbishing to Pathogen Alert symptoms, our company has served the businesses of Metro Atlanta for many years. In fact, as time has passed, we’ve added more and more laboratory tests to our repertoire so that you, the client, don’t have to outsource any of your testing needs. We have several hundred testing procedures here at Hydroserve; here, we provide a run-down of the umbrella categories for reference purposes.
Simple Water Tests for Atlanta Businesses
Alkalinity Levels
Alkalinity is a term that refers to how much free bicarbonate, carbonate, or hydroxide are within a sample of water. Much like pH in a system (acidity), unfettered alkalinity can cause issues within any system that uses water as a medium for heat transfer. Businesses must test the water within both closed and open-loop systems for alkalinity issues to avoid the degradation of pipes and the machinery that the water flows through. Alkalinity tests are a simple, straightforward way to check on your system’s overall health.
pH Levels
Low pH can indicate environments in which the system’s water is too acidic. This, too, can create problems that need to be addressed. With a simple pH test, you can get a base reading on how healthy your system is. If your pH values or alkalinity levels come back outside of the normal range, you may want to look into your system further. For drinking water, levels should be between 6.5 and 8.5.
Conductivity
Pure water (distilled, double distilled, ultrapure, and de-ionized) all conduct electricity quite poorly. If your system requires that the water be unable to conduct electricity, a conductivity test may be a quick, useful test to determine whether there is contamination or degradation somewhere in the lines. If, on the other hand, the goal is for your water to have a specific level of conductivity, these tests can also alert you to any issues that significantly reduce or increase the conductivity of your water.
TDS
A TDS test will measure the levels of Total Dissolved Solids within a water sample. This test is often used for testing the drinking water within a business. According to the EPA, drinking water must contain no more than 500 mg/L of dissolved solids. Any business that exceeds this number must implement a water softening process. Furthermore, hard water can damage and cause buildup in some systems that use water as a heat transfer mechanism. Keeping your water soft can increase the longevity of these systems.
Chloride Levels
Chloride is an anion with a negative charge that tends to bond with other positive ions like sodium (Na). According to the WHO, “chloride concentrations in excess of about 250 mg/liter can give rise to detectable taste in water, but the threshold depends upon the associated cations.” Excessive chloride levels may also affect closed-loop systems, reducing the efficiency or causing buildup. Regular testing is recommended.
Iron Levels
Like other tests in this category, iron level testing is most often used for a business’s drinking water; excessive iron in drinking water can cause a metallic taste or rust-tinged hue to be apparent in a water sample. An iron level test can alert you to some issues associated with a closed-loop system, too; increases in iron levels may mean that you have degradation and rusting of machinery. Iron in your water will also affect the conductivity levels – if that is important to your system.
Sophisticated Water Tests for Water Treatment Systems
Wastewater Evaluations
This test sounds simple, but, in reality, there are so many different sub-tests that we run when a wastewater evaluation is requested. Our goal is to give you as much information as possible so that you can tweak different levels of purification on your end. A typical wastewater evaluation will include the following: pH, conductivity, salinity, and turbidity. The full panel of tests required will depend on where the wastewater will be deposited. Standards for any wastewater dumped or sprayed directly into the environment, for example, will require many more tests.
Total Coliform Levels
The word coliform simply refers to any bacteria (many are not harmful) that might be present in a sample of water. According to the EPA, “total coliforms are used to determine the adequacy of water treatment and the integrity of the distribution system.” Sometimes, abnormally high coliform levels can warrant the following test: a bacteria analysis.
Bacterial Analysis
Whenever there is concern about the amount of coliform in a water sample, or there is a possibility of contamination by E. coli, a bacterial analysis is usually required. These tests will use propagation methods (on a variety of different plates and wells) to determine what kinds of bacteria are present in a water sample. Results will sometimes include the concentration of a bacteria in the sample, while other times it might be difficult to tell. The main purpose of this test is to see what types of bacteria are present in the sample, as this information may change the way you treat your water.
Hydroserve: Water Sample Laboratory Analysis in Metro Atlanta
Here at Hydroserve, we aim to provide local and nationwide businesses with a reliable form of water tests and water treatment investigation service that can answer nearly any question you may have. Additionally, each analysis will, upon completion, come with a written report sent via fax, email, or mail. We also take time to discuss the results of any tests that were completed by us and allow time to explore corrective measures with the client.
If you would like more information about testing your Atlanta business’s water, contact us with any pertinent information.