The importance of contaminant and nutrient analysis

Environmental monitoring and disease surveillance
Analysis of contaminant and nutrient levels in drinking, surface, and wastewaters is essential to
protecting aquatic habitats and maintaining clean drinking water supplies. Utility companies and
environmental laboratories regularly measure elemental phosphorus and nitrogen in waters, along
with a range of other pollution indicators, to ensure that discharge streams are compliant with
regulatory standards. Wastewater nutrient analysis is also used to assess population-level infection,
including SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, to support biomarker-based population size estimates.

Nutrient analysis
Determination of nutrient levels in soil, fertilizer, and plant extracts is
critical for maximizing crop yield and providing effective, risk-based
control of the food chain. Fertilizer manufacturers, agricultural service
providers, and commercial soil-testing labs need accurate and reliable
results to provide their clients with agronomic assessment and
recommendations for soil augmentation.

Industrial manufacturing
Most industrial manufacturing processes, such as crude oil distillation, paper production,
power generation, and high-speed microprocessor production, require large quantities
of high-purity water to avoiding scaling and corrosion and to maintain component
functionality and reliability. For these industries, accurate monitoring of the quality of raw
water intake and process waters is a necessary everyday task.