Water Quality Laboratory
One of the components of the Water Quality Division
is a professionally staffed, certified water and environmental testing laboratory.
Every year the laboratory analyzes over 16,000 samples for a total of 105,000
parameters. The major focus of the lab is to analyze water and environmental
samples for a variety of biological, organic and inorganic analytes. The
laboratory section also provides technical support to our customers.
In addition, we provide environmental support to various city divisions and departments as well as to other local and state agencies involved in environmental protection. Many of the local natural landmarks are maintained by city divisions with the environmental monitoring performed by the lab section. One such project is beautiful Lake Ella, a multi-faceted park with picnic areas, a walking path and nice locations in which to relax while shaded by historic live oaks. Lake Ella, being located downtown, provides a unique challenge from an environmental standpoint in that it also serves as a holding pond for stormwater runoff from neighboring yards, streets and parking lots. The lake is part of the city's monitoring schedule and is sampled and analyzed for various environmental parameters on a quarterly basis each year. Lake Ella is but one lake on a growing list of area lakes, streams and basins that are constantly monitored through the city's surface water programs.
However, the fundamental goal of the lab section's mission is to ensure that the drinking water provided to our customer's home or business meets all state and federal regulations as well as the consumer's personal level of satisfaction.