T-04
Water testing
Drinking, process and utility water tested on the chemical and microbiological parameters your specification names — in one report, not two.
- What it is
- Chemical and microbiological water parameters
- Who it is for
- Bottlers, food plants, and anyone running cooling or utility systems
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
WHAT THIS IS
What this is, and why it matters
Water testing covers every way water touches an operation: water people drink, water that becomes part of the product, water that cleans the equipment the product touches, and water in cooling and utility systems that never meets product but can still make people ill. The parameters split across two disciplines — chemical, including pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids, hardness, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, fluoride, residual chlorine and heavy metals; and microbiological, including plate counts, coliforms, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Legionella.
Two things make water different from other matrices. The first is that those parameters are usually quoted, sampled and reported separately by two laboratories, leaving the buyer to reconcile two documents about the same tap; here they run on one job and land in one report. The second is that a water result is only as good as the way the sample travelled. Containers, preservation and hold times are parameter-specific, and a residual chlorine or microbiological sample that spent an afternoon in a car has already produced a number you cannot use.
What this lane covers
- Drinking, process, utility and waste water
- Chemical and microbiological parameters in a single report
TRIGGERS
When you need it
Water is an ingredient
Water that enters the product is a raw material and is controlled like one. Beverage, bottling, dairy and ice operations test it on a fixed interval rather than on suspicion.
A cleaning or CIP system has to be verified
Final rinse water is the evidence that a clean actually finished. It is also the first place a contamination route makes itself visible.
Cooling and utility systems carry Legionella risk
Cooling towers, hot water systems and utility loops carry that risk whether or not they touch product. Where a water safety plan exists, testing is what verifies it; where one does not, it is the first thing an assessor asks about.
CATALOGUE
Water — parameters
pH
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 4500-H⁺ / AOAC 973.41
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Electrical conductivity
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 2510 B
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Total dissolved solids
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 2510 B
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Total hardness
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 2340 C
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Alkalinity as bicarbonates
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 2320 B
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Alkalinity as carbonates
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 2320 B
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Phenolphthalein alkalinity
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 2320 B
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Carbonates
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- AOAC 920.194
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Bicarbonates
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- AOAC 920.194
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Chlorides
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 4500-Cl⁻
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Sulphate
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- SulfaVer 4, method 8051
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Nitrate
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- NitraVer 5, method 8039
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Fluoride
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- SPADNS, method 8029
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Ammonia
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA / AOAC
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Faecal coliforms
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 9221
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Escherichia coli
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- APHA 9221
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Faecal streptococci
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- ISO 7899-2
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- ISO 16266
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Yeasts and moulds
- Matrix
- Water
- Reference method
- ISO 21527-1/2
- Run by
- Nexus bench
- Turnaround
- 5–7 days
Residual chlorine
- Matrix
- Treated water
- Reference method
- Per partner laboratory method
- Run by
- Partner laboratory
- Turnaround
- Up to 14 days
Legionella spp.
- Matrix
- Cooling and utility systems
- Reference method
- Per partner laboratory method
- Run by
- Partner laboratory
- Turnaround
- Up to 14 days
Published from the laboratory’s own method list. Reference methods shown are the primary reference for each determination; the full reference set, sample requirement and confirmed turnaround are issued in writing before any sample is accepted.
Lines marked “partner laboratory” are managed and reported by Nexus Labs and run on a partner laboratory’s bench. Which laboratory, and its accreditation position, is named on request before the work is commissioned.
PROCESS
How it works
Send the brief before the sample
Which water — drinking, process, final rinse, cooling, waste — and which parameters. Water is the one matrix where the sampling point matters as much as the parameter list, so name the tap, the tank or the outlet the sample will come from.
Sample requirements confirmed in writing
Water is the strictest matrix for sampling. Different parameters need different containers, some need a preservative added at the point of sampling, and several have hold times measured in hours. The laboratory confirms the containers, the preservation and the hold time in writing, and supplies the containers where that is what makes the result valid.
On the bench, to a published method
Every determination runs to the ISO, AOAC or APHA method named in the catalogue above, and that reference travels onto the report line rather than sitting in a footnote. Turnaround runs from acceptance at the laboratory, not from the day the sample left you.
Reported so the result can be acted on
Chemical and microbiological results land in a single report against the sampling point they came from, so a site with several points gets one document it can read across rather than a stack it has to collate.
What you get back
One report per job covering both the chemical and the microbiological parameters, identified by sampling point and date, with the method reference per line and any specification value you supplied set beside the result.
Service facts
| Parameter | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Accreditation position | Not on the accredited scope. The accredited testing certificate covers food and agricultural microbiology; water work runs to published APHA, ISO and manufacturer methods outside it, with two determinations placed with a partner laboratory. | Stated per discipline, never implied by a badge. |
| Sample requirements | Confirmed to you in writing before dispatch. Container, quantity, temperature and hold time change with the parameter and the matrix, so they are issued per request rather than published as one list. | Per-parameter detail publishes with the confirmed method list. |
Q+A
Common questions
Water
Can I get chemistry and microbiology on one report?
Yes — that is how the water service is built. One submission, one report covering both, so the person reading it does not have to reconcile two documents.
The municipality already tests the supply — why test at my tap?
The supplier’s certificate describes the water that left the source, not the water that arrives after your own tanks, headers and lines. Your process uses the water at the point of use, so that is where the evidence needs to come from.
Which limits do you judge water results against?
It depends on what the water is used for — process water, ingredient water and cleaning water can carry different requirements. The laboratory confirms the applicable parameters and limits in writing before testing, and states the source of each limit on the report.
A result exceeded its limit — what should I do?
Treat it as information about the system, not just the bottle. Investigate the point of use, correct what you find, then resample the same point — retesting the original sample tells you nothing new. The report gives you the result, the limit and its source, which is the record your investigation hangs on.
How often should we sample?
Frequency is set by your own food safety programme and what your customers and auditors require — there is no single rule. The laboratory confirms a sampling schedule in writing so the programme runs on dates, not on memory.
Send the sample question or the instrument list. It is read by a bench professional, not routed through a ticket queue. Call +966 59 637 8052 or write to lab-mgr@qsinexus.com.
CONTINUE
Where to next
Sending a sample
Packing, labelling, temperature and what has to travel with the sample so it arrives usable.
ReadReading a laboratory accreditation
How to check whether a laboratory is actually accredited for the parameter you are sending.
ReadWater safety programme
Scheduled testing across drinking, process and utility water, read against your water safety plan.
Read