The sooner a harmful algal bloom is detected and identified, the easier and less expensive it will be to eliminate it.Many tools are available to refine monitoring and mitigation methods; research and technological advances continue to help support water utilities' efforts.A laboratory in Wichita Falls, Texas, has developed a proactive, multifaceted approach to address the complexities of monitoring and mitigating blooms.
The City of Wichita Falls, Texas, has experienced 13 taste and odor (T&O) events in the past five years, with one especially significant cyanobacterial bloom occurring in 2020.Thanks to Cypress Environmental Laboratory's thorough and effective T&O monitoring program developed in 2016, in each of the 13 cases, drinking water with elevated T&O concentrations was detected and treated before being released to the public.Laboratory staff further improved the monitoring program in January 2021, learning from steps they took to address an odor in the water at one of Wichita Falls' treatment plants.
Key Takeaways
Utilities with environmental laboratories can monitor water and wastewater treatment plant processes and water quality from source, through distribution, and to the consumer's tap.
“Best laboratory practices” are criteria intended to ensure that environmental laboratories produce reliable and defensible water quality data that comply with regulatory requirements.
Accreditation and robust quality control and quality assurance, ethics, safety, and other laboratory program criteria support data integrity and protection of public health.
After receiving hundreds of complaints, the City of Wichita Falls, Texas, developed a plan for monitoring harmful algal blooms to detect and mitigate taste and odor (T&O) compounds and cyanotoxins.The plan uses sensory analysis, genuslevel or functional-group identification, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/ electron capture detector, data sondes, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to monitor blooms for T&O issues and cyanotoxins before they become problems.When blooms are detected, mitigation efforts include source-switching, pretreatment, oxidation, and adsorption, which have eliminated customer complaints following more than 60 years of unmitigated T&O cycles.
Accreditation serves as a demonstration of competency and thus improves overall laboratory quality. To ensure traceable, reliable, defensible data, quality must be approached as a philosophy rather than a program.The Cypress Environmental Laboratory (CEL), built in 2008, has based its operations on a commitment to high data quality, responsibility, and transparency.The CEL adheres to a strict standard set by the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, following practices outlined in the standard for monitoring and maintaining data quality.Background imagery by New Africa/Shutterstock.com
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