The Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) laboratory, one of the largest groundwater testing facilities in the country, is charged with making sure the water is safe. To make sure the SCWA is doing a good job testing the drinking water, the lab must undergo grueling proficiency tests administered by the New York State Department of Health every six months. The lab received a perfect score on the last round of proficiency tests.
The laboratory achieved a perfect score for the 21 bacteriological tests and 116 chemical parameters that were part of this round of proficiency tests. The lab must not only identify what is in a given sample, but also how much of the given contaminant is in the sample.
“I am very pleased with the results of these proficiency tests,” said SCWA Lab Director Karen Randazzo. "These tests take a great deal of time and energy. While the proficiency tests are being completed, the lab and its staff must continue with the important task of routine testing to make sure the water is safe, 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
“The results of these proficiency tests clearly illustrate how dedicated we are at the Water Authority to making sure all the water we provide is safe,” said SCWA Chairman James Gaughran. “Every SCWA customer can rest assured that their family is getting the safest water possible because our top notch laboratory and staff are on the job 365 days a year. Our high standards for testing guarantee that our customers will continue to receive the highest quality water possible.”
The Suffolk County Water Authority operates the 6th largest nationally accredited and certified groundwater-testing facility in the United States, and tests for more than 278 different pollutants in over 64,000 samples taken every year. The Water Authority lab has the technology to find contaminants at levels of parts per trillion.
“Our customers can be confident about the quality of their drinking water because our lab is on the job all day, every day,” noted SCWA CEO Jeffery Szabo. “That includes at night, over the weekend, even holidays.”