Environmental Testing Services
Drinking Water Testing (WHO guideline)
Heavy metals, defined as those metallic elements with a specific gravity at least five times that of water, are common in nature and human exposure may come from drinking water or food. Most of the heavy metals are either rare enough to be found in water or are essential in providing nutrition to the human body. However, several of them are toxic and should be regulated and monitored.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for drinking-water quality, the concentration of the heavy metals in drinking water should be smaller than the guideline values.
| Heavy metals | Guideline values (mg/L) |
| Antimony (Sb) | 0.02 |
| Arsenic (As) | 0.01 |
| Barium (Ba) | 0.7 |
| Boron (B) | 2.4 |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 0.003 |
| Chromium (Cr) | 0.05 |
| Copper (Cu) | 2 |
| Lead (Pb) | 0.01 |
| Mercury (Hg) | 0.006 |
| Nickel (Ni) | 0.07 |
| Selenium (Se) | 0.04 |
Besides testing heavy metals, there are groups of chemicals that arise from related sources – for example, disinfection by- products (DBPs). If chlorination is practiced, the trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acid (HAAs) will be the main DBPs.
According to the World Health Organization – Guidelines for drinking water quality, there are hundreds of testing parameters in the guideline. However, you do not need to test all the parameters in the guidelines. You can find below list for your reference:
- Antimony (Sb)
- Arsenic (As)
- Barium (Ba)
- Boron (B)
- Cadmium (Cd)
- Chromium (Cr)
- Copper (Cu)
- Lead (Pb)
- Mercury (Hg)
- Nickel (Ni)
- Selenium (Se)
- Chloroform
- Dibromochloromethane
- Bromodichloromethane
- Bromoform
- Nitrate
- Nitrite
- Fluoride
- E.coli
- Total Coliform
Enviro Labs Ltd. equipped GC-MS for the determination of THMs and Inductively Coupled Plasma ICP-MS for the determination of heavy metals.
To safeguard the health of you and your family, call us and check the water quality.
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