About Us

Natalia Bulox at the Sample Custodian Desk

North Water District Laboratory Services, Inc. was started in 1974 when the first need for wastewater analyses was apparent. Our facilities and services have grown with the water and wastewater industry, equipping us with a broad perspective on the associated regulatory developments. North Water District Laboratory Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1985. The NWDLS goal is to establish long relationships with our clients, providing a unique understanding of each facility through years of experience.

North Water District Laboratory Services, Inc. is certified with the State of Texas as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) and with the City of Houston as a Woman-Owned Business.

Laboratory Facilities

In 2002, NWDLS designed and built an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art laboratory, customized specifically for the needs of the wastewater industry. Located on 1.5 wooded acres three minutes from I-45, the laboratory’s reception area features a 600-gallon fresh water aquarium and our friendly and knowledgeable office staff. Our customer service representatives work in an open-concept area to promote communication and project collaboration.

The laboratory areas were designed with room for future growth beyond our existing equipment. NWDLS features an extensive inorganics lab and two organics labs: one dedicated to drinking water samples and another for wastewater and TCLP use. The entire laboratory features a positive air flow system to prevent cross-contamination.

The dedicated Microbiological Laboratory houses two large incubators for use in total coliform testing. This area is isolated from the general laboratory to prevent contamination from wastewater samples.

Horacio Munoz in the Inorganics Lab

The main laboratory area is kept climatecontrolled by a 60-ton AAON cooling system. The laboratory at NWDLS features dedicated gas lines so that dangerous gas containers are stored outside and piped to their designated areas. The laboratory has a dedicated organic extraction room as well as a dedicated metals digestion room.

NWDLS has a unique approach to BOD testing: the BOD laboratory has its own climate control system to keep the entire laboratory and its active samples at 20°C. All other samples at NWDLS are stored at 4oC before and after analysis in our 14’x14’ walk-in cooler.

Our facilities include 9 traditional fume hoods and one walk-in fume hood. One fume hood is dedicated to opening unknown samples and preserving walk-in samples received at our facility without preservative. Each sink contains a faucet from our deionized water system, and the GC lab has a deionized water polisher that provides a final level of purification before the DI water is used on the GC equipment.

The safety of our technicians is of the utmost importance to NWDLS. Eye wash stations are at every sink throughout the laboratory, exceeding OSHA standards. Every laboratory room has ample windows to allow proper supervision at all times, increasing safety.

In the Field

Most of our clients require on-site sample collection. Our highly trained, uniformed staff of field technicians drive well-marked vehicles when collecting samples. Full-time field technicians have completed TEEX Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator’s training, which allows them to identify and understand the parts and stages of wastewater facilities. In addition, they can immediately recognize many common problems at the STP and notify the client of service needed.

All field personnel have been cross-trained to learn all of the NWDLS collection routes; while their regular daily route schedule stays the same, they are familiar with all of the 450 NWDLS collection sites so that they may assist each other’s sample collection in emergency situations. NWDLS also incorporates an aerial Google Earth image of the facility (or a diagram if the aerial image is unavailable) onto the chain of custody as a reminder of proper sampling locations.

NWDLS utilizes eleven portable 24-hour composite samplers and one refrigerated 24-hour composite sampler for our clients who require them. Each field technician is equipped with YSI Dissolved Oxygen meters, Hach pH meters, and Hach Chlorine Meters. Our field technicians also travel with an assortment of bottles and preservatives so that they may be prepared for unexpected situations in the field. Of course, they also provide ice and coolers to prevent sample deterioration during transport.

Our uniformed staff of field technicians drive well-marked white vehicles when collecting samples.