Scientific Services laboratory

Our Scientific Services laboratory is a National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA) accredited laboratory. The laboratory offers advanced diagnostic, water quality testing services to the City, business and the community. We specialise in microbiological, chemical, and physical water quality testing.

Our services

Our nationally accredited team offer a range of services.

We analyse:

  • drinking water
  • wastewater
  • environmental water
  • swimming pools
  • bore water
  • industrial water.

We provide:

  • laboratory consultation services
  • advice on water quality and environmental issues
  • expertise for investigations into environmental incidents in aquatic environments.

Summary of service tests

Water use Example tests
Drinking pH, alkalinity, turbidity, true colour, total dissolved salts, metals, trihalomethanes, nutrients, E.coli, total coliforms, and plate count
Cooling towers pH, alkalinity, hardness, chloride, Legionella, E. coli, and plate count
Irrigation pH, total dissolved salts, iron, salinity, conductivity, sulphate, nutrients, E.coli, thermotolerant coliforms, and plate count
Recreational water pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, chlorine, total dissolved salts, conductivity, nutrients, metals, Enterococci, E.coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, plate count, and algal identification
Sewage BOD, suspended solids, chlorine, pH, nutrients, Enterococci, and thermotolerant coliforms
Industrial BOD, suspended solids, pH, nutrients, metals, oil and grease, and petroleum hydrocarbons
BOD = biochemical oxygen demand
Nutrients = nitrogen and phosphorus compounds

Turnaround times vary depending on test complexity, incubation periods and result immediacy.

About us

  • Operate in Griffith University's Smart Water Research Centre.
  • offer a range of microbiological, chemical and physical water quality tests
  • provide on-site testing facilities with collection and testing via boat or motor vehicle
  • accredited to ISO/IEC 17025: General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
  • on-call water testing services for emergencies outside business hours.

Equipment & facilities

Our range of specialised analytical equipment includes:

  • gas chromatograph mass spectrometer
  • flow injection analysers
  • inductively-coupled plasma optical emission and mass spectrometers.

Contact us

For information about scientific tests and fees, call Scientific Services on 07 5581 1960.

Business hours: 8.30am - 4.30pm
Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays)

An on-call service is available in the event of out-of-hours emergencies.

Visit us

Smart Water Research Centre
Northern end of Edmund Rice Drive
(access from Nerang Southport Road)
Southport Queensland 4215

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