Certification by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) permits the performance of analysis for compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act Regulations. Successful analysis of annual performance evaluation samples for regulated contaminants and passing thorough on-site inspections by a MDNRE approved certification officer are some of the certification requirements. The education and experience of the lab staff are also critical to obtaining certification. Currently, all full-time lab personnel have at least a Bachelor of Science degree.
In total, the lab staff and operators perform over 145,000 analyses of our drinking water annually. Safe, quality water is our highest priority here at the Water Treatment Plant.
The Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant has a combined, full service lab. In addition to drinking water samples, analysis is performed on wastewater and samples from local rivers and creeks at the laboratory facility. For example, sampling of phosphorus loading removed from water entering the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) is performed at the laboratory; in 2008 they found that approximately 273,000 pounds of phosphorus were removed, equal to 90-95% of the phosphorus from the wastewater.
