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Trends down drains and toilets. Over time, this practice can lead to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could ultimately impact humans as the treated effluent travels beyond the facility. Testing for and eliminating antibiotics and drug-resistant bacteria are increasingly important functions of water treatment facilities. Knowing the precise levels of bacteria in water undergoing treatment is essential to determining how much chlorine to add. Similarly, wastewater contaminated with heavy metals, such as lead, must undergo special treatment as an extra precaution. The complex process of determining which treatment options to use is greatly simplified using a LIMS. Because the platform integrates with the instruments used to track contaminant levels as wastewater is treated, the LIMS can help technicians identify trends that improve treatment performance and efficiency. This data is also critical for regulatory compliance, auditing, and reporting purposes, and ultimately plays an important role in determining where treated wastewater is put to use. Where Does Wastewater End Up? Although wastewater is no longer potable (although now it's technically possible, and many international locations are implementing this level of recycling), it has a myriad of productive uses. Some of the water ends up in lakes, rivers, or oceans, where it must be safe enough to avoid posing a public health risk, either through human contact or wildlife contamination. Other destinations for reclaimed water include street cleaning, plumbing (e.g. flush toilets), landscaping irrigation, and even crop watering. This last use alone shows how important proper wastewater treatment is to public health and safety. This is precisely why the broaderreaching capabilities afforded by a LIMS are becoming so important for wastewater treatment providers. Sadly, analytical instruments alone can't provide the measure of protection consumers have come to expect. This spring, for example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified commercially available rice imported from China and Taiwan containing 120 times the acceptable level of lead. Investigation revealed that producers had watered the rice with improperly treated wastewater that contained raw industrial effluent. Would a better system of data capture and reporting have alerted officials to the problem before the rice was shipped? In Canada, officials discovered salmon that contained significant traces of ibuprofen in their bloodstreams. It's likely the fish ingested the drug through improperly treated water entering nearby rivers and streams. While ibuprofen is certainly not deadly in these amounts, the incident raises questions about other drugs that could be entering our food supply through improperly treated wastewater. Although a LIMS doesn't ensure more accurate or frequent testing, it does bring a discipline that enables water treatment systems to be more proactive, responsive, and compliant, all of which are precursors to better public safety. If upstream 18 wateronline.com ■ contamination does occur, for example, a paperless lab enabled by a LIMS is much more likely to detect and help mitigate the issue quickly — before it impacts the treatment system. The LIMS also stores information about the origins of contamination, as well as where wastewater is released, enabling facilities to identify problems in near real time, trace them to the source, and ensure that similar problems don't occur in the future. LIMS dashboards provide graphical representations of information to allow lab managers to visualize critical data in various forms. Data To The Rescue The changing dynamics of wastewater treatment are taxing many facilities, and more rigorous sampling is seen as the best course of action. As sampling throughput increases, the wastewater treatment industry — like other industries — is looking to better data aggregation and application to lead the way forward. A LIMS can transform data management from a limiting factor to a driving force for business success by improving accuracy, ensuring compliance, and helping managers identify trends. It's unlikely we'll see fewer contaminants like antibiotics enter the wastewater stream, so it's incumbent on the industry to shift priorities and adapt. And a LIMS is certainly an important part of that shift. Jeanne A. Mensingh is president and founder of Labtopia Solutions, which provides tailored quality system advisory services to help businesses meet regulatory requirements and enhance performance. She is also a National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) assessor. Colin Thurston joined Thermo Fisher Scientific Informatics in 1996 and is currently the director of products strategy, process industries, responsible for identifying new market opportunities within the sector. He is a graduate of Salford University (Manchester, UK) with a BSc in chemistry. Water Online The Magazine