Drinking Water Testing

Across North America, the testing of drinking water to ensure concentrations of environmental contaminants are below legislated limits is a critical task. In the US, The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was established to protect the quality of drinking water. This law focuses on all waters actually or potentially designed for drinking use, whether from above ground or underground sources.

Drinking Water Testing Services

Using accredited and standard test methods, SGS provides drinking water contaminant testing for a broad set of parameters to ensure precise, accurate and legally defensible results. These include:

• Microbiological testing
• Ultra-trace metals and major anions testing
• Full range of organic compounds (hydrocarbons, PAH, pesticides, volatiles, PCB, etc.) testing
• Disinfection by-products testing including haloacetic acids (HAA), trihalomethanes (THM), NDMA, and disinfection byproducts (bromate, bromide, chlorate, and chlorite)
• Extensive and high-capacity PFAS testing
• Characterization and counting of microplastics

US Services

• We provide over 70 EPA and standard methods for testing including EPA 100.2, EPA 120.1, EPA 150.1, EPA 180.1, EPA 200.7, EPA 200.8, EPA 218.6, EPA 218.7, EPA 2320 B, EPA 245.1, EPA 300.0, EPA 300.1, EPA 314.0, EPA 335.4, EPA 351.2, EPA 353.2, EPA 504.1, EPA 505, EPA 522, EPA 524.2, EPA 525.2, EPA 531.1, EPA 531.2, EPA 533, EPA 537.1, EPA 547, EPA 548.1, EPA 549.2, EPA 552.2, EPA 552.3 and many more
• We test for > 250 accredited drinking water parameters

Canadian Services

• In Canada, our capabilities include regulatory lead testing (includes Ontario Regulation 243/07) and comprehensive analysis under the CDWQG and the Safe Drinking Water Act 2002 (Reg 248/03). Our Ontario drinking water license scope is comprehensive and includes more than 400 inorganic, microbiological, organic, radiological and physical parameters.

Who We serve?

• Municipal water systems and utilities (PWS)
• Homeowners with private wells
• Federal, state and provincial agencies
• Schools and childcare facilities
• Industrial and commercial clients
• Real estate professionals and property managers
• Providers of filtration and other water purification equipment and services

Project Highlights

PFAS Drinking Water Analysis in Ohio – In late 2019, SGS was officially approved by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) to perform testing of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in public drinking water. This came amid the state’s initiative to analyze around 1,500 public water systems for PFAS contamination. SGS’s extensive PFAS-capable laboratory network made us a key partner, providing high-throughput, accredited analysis critical for enforcing compliance and safeguarding public health.

Emergency Response – SGS was the “sole provider” for emergency response environmental testing due to one of the largest Drinking Water catastrophes in United States history.  This testing involved thousands of samples for multiple analyses with expedited turnaround time that spanned over the course of ~3 years.

All public water systems must comply with these standards. The law applies to over 150,000 public water systems across the country which need to test multiple regulated parameters with established and regulated Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs).

Similarly in Canada, drinking water is regulated provincially for multiple parameters using guidelines set by the federal government. Labs play a critical part in the maintenance of these standards as violations/exceedances need to be reported in a timely manner.