Water Testing:
Potable
Drinking Water Analysis.
Are you responsible for the drinking water in a commercial premises and do you know it is safe?
Water samples should be tested to make sure a business’s drinking water is free from bacteria that causes illness. Potability tests evaluate the number of bacteria that are culturable. This is called the Total Viable Count or TVC. The water is tested at both 22 and 37 degrees Centigrade.
This TVC test, sometimes called the Arobic Colony Count (ACC) will provide an indication of the number of bacteria at both 22 and 37 degrees centigrade. Whilst there are no set limits for TVC guidelines, monitoring would show any significant changes. E. coli should not be detected.
What if Bacteria is found to be present?
UK regulations requires that all drinking water is free from E. coli and other forms of coliform bacteria.
Legionella Analysis – what do the results mean?
We produce reports identifying both the total number of Legionella bacteria in either 200ml or a litre of water with details of which Sero group it belongs to. Occasionally you may find a sample contains more than one Sero type.
If no legionella colonies are isolated the result will be reported as not detected.
If your sample is positive for Legionella and the count is over 100 cfu/litre, you should refer to your risk assessment for escalation procedure and remediation.