Water sample testing

Suitable for:

• Businesses:
  • Building approval for business premises connected to the water supply
  • Regular annual analysis for businesses with their own drinking water supply
  • Checking the quality of water not intended for consumption
• Private individuals – owners of their own water sources (wells)
  • Checking water quality in a new well (documentation for building approval)
  • Checking an existing domestic well
  • Checking water quality at seasonal sites (cottages, summer houses)

Determines:

• The microbiological and biological parameters – microorganisms cultivable at 22°C and 36°C, coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, Intestinal enterococci
• Physical parameters - pH, conductivity, turbidity
• Inorganic parameters – chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium ions, nitrites, nitrates, chlorides, bicarbonates, sulphates, calcium, magnesium, hardness, iron, manganese
• Sensory assessment of smell, taste, colour. 

Analysis duration: generally five to ten business days

You can find additional information here:

• This is a partial analysis of drinking water pursuant to Decree No 252/2004, laying down the requirements for drinking and hot water and the frequency and scope of drinking water checks.
• The offered scope includes selected indicators that serve, inter alia, to evaluate possible faecal or biological water pollution after the winter, heavy rain, natural disasters, etc.
• The scope of an analysis for building approval is not precisely determined, hence we recommend checking the specific analysis requirements with the relevant building authority.
• An analysis of water as utility water provides information about its quality in terms of hardness, iron content, manganese content, etc. and establishes whether the water is suitable for your equipment.
• It is possible to set the following as additional parameters for a partial analysis depending on the type of disinfection and the water source:
  • Nitrites – only if the water is disinfected using chloramination
  • Aluminium – only if using an aluminium-based coagulation agent
  • Free chlorine, chlorine dioxide – only if using a chlorine-containing agents
  • Manganese – only if manganese is removed from the water during treatment
  • Microscopic image – if the source is surface water

Suitable for:

• Businesses:
  • A regular annual analysis of your own drinking water source for employee hygiene purposes

Determines:

• Microbiological indicators – Escherichia coli, legionella spp., colony count at 36°C, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus
• Physical/chemical indicators – chemical oxygen demand (COD), odour, pH, trihalomethanes, free chlorine, turbidity

Analysis duration: usually seven to 14 business days

You can find additional information here:

• Determined pursuant to Annex 3 to Decree 252/2004 – hot water from an individual source for employee hygiene purposes

Suitable for evaluating:

• Aggressivity/corrosivity
• Accretion effects (potential for scaling)

Determines:

• For concrete
  • pH, conductivity, CO₂ balance, aggressive forms of carbon dioxide, ammonium ions, chlorides, bicarbonates, sulphates, calcium, magnesium, solutes, alkaline and acid neutralization capacity
  • Langelier Saturation Index
  • Ryznar Stability Index
• For steel
  • Analysis in water – pH, conductivity, chlorides, sulphates, aggressive CO₂
  • Soil analysis – pH, total sulphur, chlorine

Analysis duration: usually five to ten business days

Additional information:

• Chemical reactions on concrete from the surrounding environment are determined pursuant to the standard ČSN EN 206+A2 Concrete - Specifications, properties, production and conformity, table 2 Limit values for selected chemical characteristics
• The aggressiveness of water or soil is determined pursuant to the highest level of the individual chemical characteristics. If there are two or more characteristics with the same degree, the next higher degree must be used
• Similarly, the chemical influence of the surroundings on steel is determined pursuant to ČSN 038375 Protection of metal pipes placed in soil or in water from corrosion, where limit values for selected chemical characteristics are determined in tables 1 and 2

Mixing water for concrete

Suitable for:

• The preparation of concrete from recycled or other water (except drinking water)

Determines:

• Inorganic parameters – suspended solids, phosphates, chlorides, sulphates

Additional information:

• The analysis can prevent the use of unsuitable water and save you many times its cost

Analysis duration: usually five to ten business days

Suitable for:

Both professional and hobby fish breeders

Determines:

Ammonia, ammoniacal nitrogen, total nitrogen, nitrites, nitrates, alkalinity (KNK4,5) and total hardness

Analysis duration: usually seven to ten business days

Additional information:

• Brown Blood disease - nitrites (>10 mg/l) and free ammonia (>0.02 mg/l) are toxic to fish. Ammonia itself is significantly more toxic than nitrites. The result can be suffocation from lack of oxygen in tissues.
• Bacteria in an aquarium help oxidise ammonia into nitrogen oxides, which are then bound by plants.
• Water hardness is caused by calcium and magnesium ions and their salts, which together form limescale. Carbohydrates can be precipitated by boiling to soften the water, but not sulphates and chlorides. Hard water can damage the kidneys of fish used to soft water. On the other hand, it maintains pH levels better thanks to its higher buffer capacity.

Analyses of water from rivers, streams, lakes, dams, ponds and wetlands.

Suitable for:

• Drinking water treatment plants = raw water analysis
• The owners of fish breeding ponds and fish businesses

Determines, inter alia:

• Microbiological analysis, content of metals, suspended solids, organic pollution, odour, etc.
• Indicators of pollution by oxidisable substances: chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen consumption, suspended solids
• Metals: iron, manganese
• Phosphates and nitrates – eutrophication
• pH
• For fish, the dissolved oxygen content etc. 

Analysis duration: usually five to ten business days

Additional information:

• Raw water analysis is governed by Decree 428/2001, implementing the Act on Water Supply and Sewerage
• Heavy metals, pesticides etc. can be set as additional parameters for a partial analysis

Suitable for:

Water from mines

Determines, e.g.:

• pH, metals, sulphates, suspended solids, NEL/C₁₀-C₄₀
• Total mineralisation, iodides, bromides, silicates, boric acid, dissolved gases (methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide), density

Analysis duration: usually five to 15 business days

Additional information:

• The specific requirements for chemical analyses of mine water depend on the nature of the extraction and are subject to specific permits for both the extraction and for waste water discharge
• Accredited analyses monitor, inter alia, surface erosion products and petroleum substances that can penetrate into mine water during the movement of machines at the extraction site
• Pursuant to Act 44/1988, on the protection and use of mineral wealth, mine water is formed by the penetration of groundwater, surface or rain water into a mine space (meaning deep or open cast mine areas such as quarries, clay pits, sand and gravel pits). It is also, for example, water extracted concurrently with crude oil and natural gas. For use as an alternative source a permit pursuant to Act 44/1988, on the protection and use of mineral wealth, is required
• Pursuant to Act 254/2001, the Water Act, mine water is surface water and groundwater
• When discharging water into surface water or groundwater, the conditions and method must be determined by the regional authority

Suitable for:

• WWTPs (waste water treatment plants), plants (industrial, agricultural, healthcare, etc.), traps (oil and fat separators), water from settling tanks, leachate from sewage sludge, landfills, etc.
• Runoff that could compromise the quality of surface water or groundwater

Waste water from domestic WWTPs

Suitable for:

The owners of domestic WWTPs, for regular analysis or to optimise the operation of the WWTP

Determines:

Chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, ammoniacal nitrogen, total phosphorus

Analysis duration: usually seven to ten business days

Additional information:

• Domestic WWTP option A (COD, BOD₅, NL)
  • Waste water discharged into surface water (river, watercourse, pond). Applies for equipment put into operation before 1 January 2016
  • Pursuant to Government Regulation 23/2011
• Domestic WWTP option B (COD, BOD₅)
  • Use: Waste water discharged into surface water (river, watercourse, pond). Applies for equipment put into operation after 1 January 2016
  • Pursuant to Government Regulation 401/2015
• Domestic WWTP option C (COD, BOD₅, NL, N-NH₄, total P)
  • Waste water discharged into groundwater (infiltration into the soil layer). Applies for equipment put into operation before 1 March 2016
  • Pursuant to Government Regulation 416/2010
• Domestic WWTP option D (COD, BOD₅, NL, N-NH₄)
  • Waste water discharged into groundwater (infiltration into the soil layer). Applies for equipment put into operation after 1 March 2016
  • Pursuant to Government Regulation 57/2016
• How to choose the correct analysis
  • The information in the operating instructions (OI) always applies
  • The scope of the analysis differs depending on whether the waste water is discharged into surface water (river, watercourse, pond) or into groundwater (infiltration into the soil layer) and also on the date the WWTP was put into operation
  • If the required analyses in the OI differ from ours, the OI take precedence. These also determine the sampling frequency and should be prepared in accordance with valid legislation at the time of approval. Legislation indicates the analyses we perform, however individual deviations are possible
  • Legislation determines that it is necessary to take input and output samples from domestic WWTPs to demonstrate treatment efficiency. In practice it is often sufficient to submit only an output analysis

Waste water from plants, WWTPs etc.

Suitable for:

• The operators of WWTPs (waste water treatment plants), plants, traps (oil and fat separators), water from settling tanks, etc.

Determines:

• pH, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids by drying at 105°C, solutes annealed at 550°C, total organic carbon, C₁₀-C₄₀ – petroleum substances determined by gas chromatography, NEL – petroleum substances spectrophotometrically, fats and oils, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, AOX – chlorine bound in organic substances 

Analysis duration: usually seven to ten business days

Additional information:

• Indicators that must be complied with are determined for the given equipment in the operating instructions or in the waste water discharge permit
• The parameters of waste water discharged into surface water or groundwater must comply with Act 254/2001, the Water Act, and for discharge there must be a water management permit issued by the relevant water authority and which is time-restricted
• The required quality of water discharged into surface or groundwater is also given by the following regulations:
  • Decree 328/2018, on the procedure for determining waste water pollution, performing pollution readings and measuring the volume of waste water discharged into surface water
  • Government Decree 401/2015, on the indicators and values of permissible pollution of surface water and waste water, the requisites of a permit for discharging waste water into surface water and sewers and on sensitive areas – determines the permissible pollution of waste water when discharged into surface water
  • Government Regulation 57/2016, on the indicators and values of permissible pollution of waste water and the requisites of a permit for discharging waste water into groundwater – determines the permissible pollution of waste water when discharged into groundwater
  • Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture 428/2001, on the procedure for determining wastewater pollution, performing pollution readings and measuring the volume of waste water discharged into surface water, implemented by the Water Supply and Sewerage Act