Abstract

PREFACE

Most scientific disciplines claim that they stand upon the shoulders of giants as the practitioners modestly describe their additions to the knowledge base of the science. In the wastewater analysis field it is perhaps more appropriate to say that we sit upon the shoulders of giants. We would like to think that progress is being made in the wastewater analysis field, however, what is most commonly seen is a rapid degradation in the knowledge base. Sometimes when surveying the lack of progress that has been made over the last 30 years I tend to feel that we actually sit at the feet of giants, waiting for them to tell us stories of chemical amazement.

A majority of people who are employed in the wastewater business are under the impression that laboratories are black boxes. You collect a sample and send it to the lab. The black box of the lab does something to the sample and sends you back a report with results. Then you use the results to make decisions - sometimes decisions that are quite costly or have significant public health ramifications. A further illusion is that all laboratory black boxes generate identical products (information) just like boxes of Tide is identical and the only differentiating factor is cost. The different supermarkets charge different prices based on economy of scale, where the market is located, how much the employees are paid, the size and upkeep of the building, etc.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Each laboratory is different. The equipment they use is different. The methods used vary from one lab to the next. The level of implementation of the methods varies from cursory to complete. The range of technical ability of the laboratory workers varies widely from totally untrained to highly competent, degreed, and licensed analysts. The results on the final analytical report could represent anything from a slam-bang, take-it or leave-it single attempt at the test on the sample (including a dry-lab result) to a technically detailed and verified examination.

The major difference between just any laboratory and a competent laboratory is the level of training of the analysis. And it is not simply the number of BS, MS, or PhD degrees that are employed in the lab. The degree-granting educational programs only prepare a person to learn. The actual presentation/acquisition of relevant facts and melding them together to make knowledge is the responsibility of the laboratory training officer. These lectures are the written version of a course I have been teaching for several years at Analytical Services Inc. and the Georgia Water and Wastewater Institute. I flatter myself by thinking that these are the facts that are needed to make a capable benchlevel analytical chemist in our industry. Well, at least they have proven many times over to be sufficient preparation for passing the ABC Analyst Certification exams.