Water Contamination Testing

Whether it's for regulatory compliance as part of an environmental permit, confirming drinking water suitability, identifying surface water contamination, irrigating agricultural land or you're simply curious about the risk of water contamination at your property or site, our tailored water contamination testing services, for commercial and domestic clients, can help. We can carry out water sampling as part of our assessment or can send you a water testing kit, allowing you to collect samples yourself. After your water samples have been tested in our UKAS accredited laboratory, we can either provide laboratory results in a short report or provide more detailed analysis, including interpretations relevant to your specific site or project and, if necessary, recommend suitable further investigation or remediation.

Water Sample Collection - We can visit your site or property to carry out water sampling, for contamination testing in a UKAS and MCERTS accredited laboratory, or send you a water testing kit, allowing you to collect the samples yourself. We can also provide recommendations for appropriate sampling at your site to ensure that the sampling is suitable for potentially affected waters.

Laboratory Water Contamination Testing - Our laboratory contamination testing of water samples can include a huge variety of contaminants, including dissolved metals and hydrocarbons that are often found in water bodies near industrial areas, pesticides that can run off the surface of agricultural fields into nearby waters and dangerous bacteria from sewage spills or faecal matter. Simply let us know your situation and we can either build a suitable contaminant suite of water testing or carry out testing based on your specific request. Alternatively, if you're looking for a generic assessment of common waterborne contaminants, we can provide a generic suite of contaminants to allow assessment of surface water or drinking water contamination levels.

Clear & Jargon Free Reporting - After your water samples have been tested, we can simply provide your tabulated results in a short report or, if you would like a more detailed analysis and interpretation of your results, we can assess them against a range of screening values to determine whether the water is appropriate for its intended use, whether this be for drinking water or for use in industry or agriculture.

When is Water Sampling & Contamination Testing Required?

We offer a quick and convenient water contamination testing service, fully tailored to your specific needs, however, we've highlighted some common projects we regularly help our clients with. Remember that we can tailor water contamination testing for your specific requirements.

Due Diligence - If you're simply curious about the condition of your drinking water or the surface water on your land, we can carry out water contamination testing for a generic suite of contaminants that are known to pose a risk to controlled waters and human health. Water bodies can be contaminated through surface runoff of contaminants or the leaching of contaminants through soil, however, there may also be previously unidentified historical contamination in the sediment of these water bodies that may be released into the soil when disturbed. It is often very difficult to determine the quality of water, including suitability for use as drinking water, by observation alone so it may be desirable to carry out water sampling and contamination testing for peace of mind.

Regulatory Compliance - You may need to carry out sampling of water, that is to be discharged to a water course following use in an industrial process, in order to obtain an environmental permit. In this case, water samples will need to be collected and tested, in UKAS accredited laboratory, for a tailored suite of contaminants.

Agriculture - Unidentified contamination of water, utilised for the irrigation of crops and other activities, may negatively impact agricultural land and crops. You may, therefore, wish to carry out water contamination testing to ensure the quality and safety of your crops and agricultural land. Water samples can be easily collected using our water testing kits or we can visit your site to collect the samples and provide a more in-depth interpretive report.

Drinking Water (Potable) - Drinking water, also known as potable water, is water that is safe to drink or use for food preparation. In order to assess whether water is suitable, we carry out laboratory testing for contaminants, such as dissolved metals and harmful bacteria, in addition to testing for physical characteristics, such as suspended solids and electrical conductivity. Contamination testing of drinking water is most often conducted following a potentially contaminative event or prior to the use of non-mains fed water for drinking.

Upon contacting Oakshire environmental and having dealt with similar companies previously over the years, instantly the customer service and responsiveness was second to none, efficient and knowledgeable staff who helped with every step, corresponding almost everyday with updates on our unique situation, cannot recommend highly enough we will now be using oakshire environmental moving forward for all our testing/sampling needs. - Dales Marine Services

Water Contamination Testing Case Study

BBC Water Contamination Investigation - We had the pleasure of assisting the BBC with an investigation into hydrocarbon contamination in the River Nene. The programme, which aired on BBC One & BBC News, focused on the rise of 'Wild Swimming', swimming in natural bodies of water e.g. lakes, ponds, rivers and the ocean, and the potential human health affects of swimming in potentially contaminated water.

Water samples were collected to assess the potential impact of hydrocarbon runoff on the River Nene in two contrasting locations. A sample was collected from the River Nene near the rural village of Denford, with another collected from a stretch of the Nene, near an industrial area in Northampton.

Hydrocarbon runoff from industrial activities and roads can occur through the release of emissions from vehicles or the use of coal tar in the construction of old roads. Laboratory testing of the water samples indicated that no harmful concentrations of hydrocarbon contamination were present, however, elevated concentrations of hydrocarbons may be present within sediment and soils adjacent to the watercourse, as these organic substances tend to adsorb to soil particles and are also insoluble in water, so are more likely to build up to higher concentrations in sediments and soils rather than the water itself.

Meet Our Water Contamination Consultants

Consultants - Supervised by our Chief Technical Officer, Louis Turner, our fully comprehensive water contamination testing services, are carried out by highly qualified consultants and combine over 30 years experience with detailed UKAS & MCERTS accredited laboratory testing.

Management - Our wealth of experience in project management, logistics and environmental consulting allows us to provide efficient, friendly and high quality water contamination testing for our clients. As a company, we believe that helping clients achieve their goals while simultaneously protecting the environment is a true "win-win" situation.

Partners - Our experienced, professional and qualified consulting partners further extend the range of environmental and land contamination services we are able to provide. Our partners include a UKAS accredited laboratory that ensures all our water contamination testing meets the relevant standards and is done to the highest standard.

Contact Us - Contact us and let us know your contamination testing requirements, alternatively, if your requirements are more complex, or you're looking for more information about our contaminated water testing service or our company, a more formal consultation may be necessary. Following initial consultation we can provide an outline proposal detailing how we can help and the costs involved.

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