What Analysis Do You Need?

Chemical analysis of soil, water, the built environment and its related constituents, can be a complex exercise if you are not too sure what to request.

It is true that several defined chemical suites exist, supported by national and international analytical methods, to ensure legislative compliance of materials; for example, Drinking Water suites with prescribed maximum allowable concentrations, lead content of paints used on children’s toys, or cement content of concrete, mortar and screed.

But this is Quality Control and Quality Assurance, and the analytical requirements are fairly easily identified. However, what happens when you are faced with those puzzling anomalies that crop up from time to time? One of the more common question we receive refers to determining the origin of water - is it groundwater? or a mains leak? or worse - is it foul water? We specify simple tests that will provide the definitive answer, in the majority of cases.

Some of the other questions we have answered:

• why are my goldfish dying? 
• why have stains developed on my stone tiles? 
• what smells of almonds and makes me feel sick?
• why is the concrete not up to scratch?
• why is the soil green?
• what is the exact composition of a heritage site mortar?

. . . . and so on.

ECSOL Limited can help here by recommending the analytical suite that will provide the data to answer the questions. But it need not stop there; if required, we can interpret the data and provide you with the answers (see Interpretation).

Regarding assessment of contaminated land, if you are leading the site investigation, the onus is on you to determine what analysis should be performed, such that all potential risks may be evaluated.

Contaminated land assessment should always begin with a desk-top study and walk-over survey of the site to provide sufficient data to generate an initial conceptual site model – Phase 1 of the process. A risk assessment should then be performed to establish the risk from contamination relative to the proposed end use of the site. Depending on the level of risk so determined, further investigation of the site and remediation may be required to mitigate identified risks – Phase 2. The conceptual model should identify what needs to be analysed; the results of intrusive site investigation, sampling and analysis are used to determine the risks to human health and the environment. Therefore, it is vital that all potential sources are identified at the planning stage of the site investigation to ensure the site-specific risk assessment is meaningful. The analytical parameters selected must reflect all sources of potential harm that could not be established as low risk at the Phase 1 stage.

ECSOL can provide you with the site-specific analytical requirements you need to achieve a meaningful site risk assessment; this will assist you in satisfying your obligations to the regulatory authorities. Based on historical information gained at the Phase 1 stage provided by you, we can supply details of the analytical requirements for each site sector, for each sample type, together with the recommended sampling requirements regarding suitable storage; the latter will ensure the sample is in the best condition possible when it arrives at the laboratory of your analytical provider. Whilst several laboratories offer useful screening suites, these are not a “catch-all”, and either important parameters may be overlooked, or you may be wasting time and money analysing for chemical species that have negligible risk of harm, or may not even be present on your site. Make your Phase 2 investigation site-specific with your own realistic suite – the regulators will be more than happy to acknowledge your programme since it shows you have given significant consideration to the site.

To help you further, we offer recommended site practice in the form of detailed Quality Management Procedures (see Merchandise) related to Site Investigation Planning, Quality Control, Sampling Requirements, and Health and Safety Plans (HASP). We have developed very useful, user-friendly software (Microsoft Excel based) to assist you at the site sampling exercise; sample container type, sample preservation, storage conditions and shelf life are recommended for numerous analytical parameters, for ground, surface, waste and drinking waters, and soils and sediment samples (see Merchandise).


Remember, you need not be daunted by the analytical results; if you have problems interpreting the chemical data, we at ECSOL can help here too (see Interpretation).


And if the results of the risk assessment requires remediation of your site, ECSOL Limited considers Bioremediation to be one of its specialities (see Bioremediation).