Industrial Laboratory
At Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties we use our Industrial Laboratory to examine the wastewater from our Industrial Discharges. Some of the parameters we test for are pH, Total Suspended Solids, Oil and Grease, PHC, Metals, Cyanide, Ammonia, Chlorides, Sulfates, and BOD. These results are then reported to our pretreatment officers who help our Industrial Discharges set up a pretreatment system to stay within compliance levels.
It is important that these results get processed as quickly and as accurately as possible. That is why we added the Varian Hot Block and the Horizon technology Speed-Vap III, which is coupled with the Solvent Trap, to our equipment list.
The Hot Block is an acid digestion system that reduced the time it takes for us to process Industrial samples for metals analysis. It reduces the time it takes to digest the samples as well as the time it takes to process the samples after digestion. With this new system, samples are digested and filtered in the same 50mL polypropylene tube, reducing time spent on sample processing and glassware cleaning.
The Horizon Technology Speed-Vap III with the Solvent Trap is a solvent evaporation and recovery system that reduces the time it takes to evaporate off samples for Oil and Greases. After extracting the samples with the Spe-Dex 3000XL Extractor, we transfer the hexane to a metal pan that is placed into the Speed-Vap III. The pans are then uniformly heated and a vacuum is used to create a gentle flow of air over the samples. This lessens the time it takes to evaporate off the hexane, it reduces the cooling time, and removes the use of glass boiling flasks that need to be cleaned, acid rinsed and dried. Plus, as an added bonus, the Solvent Trap lessens the amount of hexane released into the atmosphere.
Certified Parameters
NJDEP Laboratory Certification #20213
EPA Labcode #NJ00170
The Joint Meeting Laboratory is certified for the following parameters:
EPA Labcode #NJ00170
The Joint Meeting Laboratory is certified for the following parameters:
| Wastewater Parameters | Method |
| Ammonia | SM 4500-NH3 B plus D-11 |
| Ammonia | SM 4500-NH3 B plus E-11 |
| Biochemical Oxygen Demand | SM 5210 B-11 |
| Carbonaceous BOD (CBOD) | SM 5210 B-11 |
| Chemical Oxygen Demand (CBOD) | SM 5220 D-11 |
| Chloride | SM 4500-CL C-11 |
| Chlorine | SM 4500-CL D-11 |
| Cadmium | SM 3111 B-11 |
| Chromium | SM 3111 B-11 |
| Copper | SM 3111 B-11 |
| Cyanide | SM 4500-CN B,C -11 and D-11 |
| Cyanide | SM 4500-CN B,C -11 plus E-11 |
| Cyanide Amenable to Cl2 | SM 4500-CN B,C -11 and G-11 |
| Fecal Coliform | SM 9221 C & E06 |
| Fecal Coliform | SM 9222 D-97 |
| Lead | SM 3111 B-11 |
| Nickel | SM 3111 B-11 |
| Nitrate | EPA 352.1 |
| Oil & Grease - HEM - SPE | EPA 1664A |
| Oil & Grease - HEM - LL | EPA 1664A |
| Oil & Grease - SGT - Non Polar | EPA 1664A |
| Oxygen, Dissolved | SM 4500-O G-11 |
| Oxygen, Dissolved | SM 4500-O C-11 |
| pH | SM 4500-H B-11 |
| pH (Corrosivity) | SW-846 9040 C |
| pH - Soil and Waste | SW-846 9045C |
| Phosphorus (Total) | SM 4500-P B5-11 plus E-11 |
| Residue - Filterable (TDS) | SM 2540 C-11 |
| Residue - Nonfilterable (TSS) | SM 2540 D-11 |
| Residue - Settleable | SM 2540 F-11 |
| Silver | SM 3111 B-11 |
| Specific Conductance (Conductivity) | SM 2510 B-11 |
| Sulfate | SM 4500-SO4 E-11 |
| Temperature | SM 2550 B-00 |
| Total, Fixed, and Volatile Solids (SQAR) | SM 2540 G SM 18th.Ed. |
| Zinc | SM 3111 B-11 |
| Solid Hazardous Waste Parameters | Method |
| Cadmium | SW-846 7000B |
| Chromium | SW-846 7000B |
| Copper | SW-846 7000B |
| Lead | SW-846 7000B |
| Metal | SW-846 3050B |
| Nickel | SW-846 7000B |
| Silver | SW-846 7000B |
| Zinc | SW-846 7000B |
Process Control Lab
At the Joint Meeting of Essex & Union Counties we do everything in our power to keep the plant running at top performance. We run extensive analysis on plant samples for process control. Samples are taken daily from every step in the treatment process and analyzed for various parameters. Some of the parameters tested for are Total Solids, Total Volatile Solids, Total Suspended Solids, Total Suspended Volatile Solids, Total Alkalinity, Turbidity, Oil & Grease, Metals, BOD, CBOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand, pH, and various nutrients.
We are always looking for new and better ways of running the analysis. One way we found was to update our balance and computer system to include a program for running all of our solids analysis. This process sends all the information to a spreadsheet and does all of the necessary calculation, thus eliminating the chance of calculation errors and/or transcribed numbers.
Over the past few years, other updates have included such things as Block Digestion for COD analysis. This was switched from the larger scale macro digestion. This newer process uses less chemical reagents and produces less hazardous waste to dispose of. COD is a valuable process control test because it gives us the oxygen requirement results in about 2-3 hours instead of the 5 days that the BOD test requires.
Analysis is performed for various nutrient parameters, such as phosphorous, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, chloride, sulfate and hardness. Although our permit does not require any nutrient removal, monitoring is done to detect changes within the plant that could cause problems down the line. Changes in the ammonia and nitrate concentrations can be indicators of the biological system heading toward the nitrification or denitrification stage. Nitrite is an oxidizer that could cause interference in our ORP system. Changes in chlorides can be caused by infiltration of salt water from the river during high tides. Results of analysis must be viewed on a large scale. The data received from one part of the plant may be indicators of what is or will be happening at another part of the treatment system.
Most of the nutrient analysis is done by wet chemistry. Pictured is a colorimetric analysis for ammonia. The treatment plant operator, with the help of the lab data must be aware of what is happening in the system. Changes to the process are made based on the data received from the lab. Lab data is entered daily into a computer database to be accessed up to the minute by operations personnel.
At the Joint Meeting of Essex & Union Counties we do everything in our power to keep the plant running at top performance. We run extensive analysis on plant samples for process control. Samples are taken daily from every step in the treatment process and analyzed for various parameters. Some of the parameters tested for are Total Solids, Total Volatile Solids, Total Suspended Solids, Total Suspended Volatile Solids, Total Alkalinity, Turbidity, Oil & Grease, Metals, BOD, CBOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand, pH, and various nutrients.We are always looking for new and better ways of running the analysis. One way we found was to update our balance and computer system to include a program for running all of our solids analysis. This process sends all the information to a spreadsheet and does all of the necessary calculation, thus eliminating the chance of calculation errors and/or transcribed numbers.
Over the past few years, other updates have included such things as Block Digestion for COD analysis. This was switched from the larger scale macro digestion. This newer process uses less chemical reagents and produces less hazardous waste to dispose of. COD is a valuable process control test because it gives us the oxygen requirement results in about 2-3 hours instead of the 5 days that the BOD test requires.Analysis is performed for various nutrient parameters, such as phosphorous, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, chloride, sulfate and hardness. Although our permit does not require any nutrient removal, monitoring is done to detect changes within the plant that could cause problems down the line. Changes in the ammonia and nitrate concentrations can be indicators of the biological system heading toward the nitrification or denitrification stage. Nitrite is an oxidizer that could cause interference in our ORP system. Changes in chlorides can be caused by infiltration of salt water from the river during high tides. Results of analysis must be viewed on a large scale. The data received from one part of the plant may be indicators of what is or will be happening at another part of the treatment system.Most of the nutrient analysis is done by wet chemistry. Pictured is a colorimetric analysis for ammonia. The treatment plant operator, with the help of the lab data must be aware of what is happening in the system. Changes to the process are made based on the data received from the lab. Lab data is entered daily into a computer database to be accessed up to the minute by operations personnel.