Looking for Water Testing Recommendations
Good afternoon IFSQN,
I am preparing for a Costco audit, and they require testing of potable water from WITHIN the facility.
The lab we work with does not offer water testing in my area (Merieux).
Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm not sure what to test for since we get monthly & annual results from the city.
I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else is doing. Our audit is at the end of April and this is one of the last items on my To-Do list. Thanks in advance!
Our 3rd party lab sends our samples out to another 3rd party lab that specializes in water testing. We get a coliforms test result and a potability certificate.
Do you really get monthly results from your locality? I'm impressed. We get an annual water report that actually covers the previous year's testing results; so by the time we get it, the data is up to 18 months old.
This may be above and beyond, but we also test different locations within our facility.
There are alot of labs the do this testing. I looked on your profile - Midwest. I know for a fact that Midwest Labs in omaha does potability and all kinds of other water testing.
If you contact your local or state health department they should be able to give you a list of certified labs.
you should amend your process to test from various locations WITHIN the building on a rotating schedule--it's how you verify that your water source isn't becoming contaminated from your pipes
We use a local municipal water department for our testing. It was about $25 per sample. They supply the containers and we just wipe and heat the outlets where the samples are taken. I take them to the water dept. in a cooler and they email me a report in 24 - 48 hours. Just call the nearest (larger) water dept. and ask.
One of the overlooked issues with water testing is that there are specific requirements for specific tests, your test sites in you facility need to be listed on your program. There are also specific rules on how long the water sample site needs to be running without interruption prior to sampling. Some of the samples must be filled to a level as not to have any air bubbles in the sample, and each test has a specific sample size that must be submitted, we work closely with our lab to make sure that our sample submissions are appropriate because it gets costly having to repeat samples that are not adequate. The most important part of water testing is the chain of custody documentation, we learned this lesson the hard way.
One of the overlooked issues with water testing is that there are specific requirements for specific tests, your test sites in you facility need to be listed on your program. There are also specific rules on how long the water sample site needs to be running without interruption prior to sampling. Some of the samples must be filled to a level as not to have any air bubbles in the sample, and each test has a specific sample size that must be submitted, we work closely with our lab to make sure that our sample submissions are appropriate because it gets costly having to repeat samples that are not adequate. The most important part of water testing is the chain of custody documentation, we learned this lesson the hard way.
The Water Department we use gave me a sheet of instructions and provided over the phone answers to all my questions. I did have to run the water for a period of time now that you mention it. The sample containers were sealed and had a powder in it to help preserve the samples. We had to submit them within 4 hours of the water draw also.
One of the overlooked issues with water testing is that there are specific requirements for specific tests, your test sites in you facility need to be listed on your program. There are also specific rules on how long the water sample site needs to be running without interruption prior to sampling. Some of the samples must be filled to a level as not to have any air bubbles in the sample, and each test has a specific sample size that must be submitted, we work closely with our lab to make sure that our sample submissions are appropriate because it gets costly having to repeat samples that are not adequate. The most important part of water testing is the chain of custody documentation, we learned this lesson the hard way.
Would you be willing to elaborate on the chain of custody documentation?
Good idea about the Water Department. I will send them an email today too.
I was given a referral by the Dept. of Health, but that company has only sent me spam emails so far. Not too promising.
It would be nice to find a company in my area that I could drop samples off to. Hopefully the Water Dept. has some good news.
Thank you all for the responses. This forum has given me more guidance than my regulatory body :helpplease:
This is the form we must submit with every sample sent to our lab.
Attached Files
Good afternoon IFSQN,
I am preparing for a Costco audit, and they require testing of potable water from WITHIN the facility.
The lab we work with does not offer water testing in my area (Merieux).
Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm not sure what to test for since we get monthly & annual results from the city.
I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else is doing. Our audit is at the end of April and this is one of the last items on my To-Do list. Thanks in advance!
Hi ABFC,
Do Costco not give any idea as to the scope of their expectations ? They seem to have extensive literature on mpst of their FS demands.
Theoretically you are faced with the trio of BCP data on internal samples which IMEX is what is annually expected for EC purposes however a few appropriately low numbers usually suffices for monthly testing, eg APC, Coliforms, E.coli
Make sure you're using the correct bottles----micro bottles should NOT have preservative in them--chemical analysis bottles should
You can wipe the faucet with an alcohol wipe (you may also want to remove the fine screen inside bathroom/kitchen faucets) and let the water run for 1-2 mintes
Here we test the water for (micro)
ecoli
HPC
Total COliforms
Background
We are a Costco vendor