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Lab Staff Activities + Capabilities

Since 1972, OWML has been providing services for monitoring water quality and other environmental testing applications. OWML is certified by the Virginia environmental laboratory accreditation program (VELAP) under Virginia regulation 1VAC30-46 and TNI 2009 Standard as a commercial-grade laboratory. All analyses performed for the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Program are VELAP accredited (*). Our analytical capabilities include:

  • *Major cations (ASTM 6919) and anions (SM 4110 B).
  • Transitional metals by EPA 6020.
  • *Nutrients (total nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, total and dissolved phosphorus)  Standard Method 4500.
  • *Organic carbon (total and dissolved) Standard Method 5310 B.
  • *Total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, turbidity Standard Method 2540 C, D, 2130B.
  • *Microbiological testing Standard Method 9221 (total coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli and Enterococci).
  • Bacterial source tracking (molecular testing) by EPA Method 1696
  • *PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) by EPA Method 1633 (surface water, wastewater, soils/sediments and fish tissue)
  • Other PFAS methods available but currently unaccredited:
    • EPA Method 533/537.1 for drinking water
    • Total Oxidizable Precursor assay
    • Direct Injection (rapid turnaround)
    • Ultra-short chain compounds
    • Fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs)
    • Non-targeted analysis
  • Synthetic organic compounds (SOCs) by EPA Method 525.1: phthalates, pesticides and herbicides (surface water, wastewater, soils/sediments, fish tissue)
  • Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)

For further information on Lab capabilities, contact Dongmei Alvi at 703-361-5606 ext. 118 or dongmei@vt.edu.

Field Staff Activities + Capabilities:

  • Stream and reservoir sampling, and field parameter measurement.
  • Collection of a wide variety of field samples, including nutrients, metals, chlorophyll, bacterial and algal samples, sediments.
  • Field measurement of environmental parameters, such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, specific conductance, turbidity, alkalinity.
  • Operation and maintenance of stream gauging and automated sampling stations.
  • Construction and installation of stream gauging and automated sampling stations
  • Stream flow measurements
  • Operation and maintenance of a network of rain gauge stations.
     

For further information on Field capabilities, contact Harry Post at 703-361-5606 ext. 116 or hpost@vt.edu.