Reliable Instruments Ensure Continued Working Relationship

Since 2001, Severn Trent Laboratories’ (STL) Bridgend facility has used ICP-MS technology, using up to four instruments each running 200 drinking water samples each day. For a suite of 32 metals, results range from sub -g/l level for trace elements such as lead, arsenic and cadmium to hundreds of mg/l for calcium and magnesium. In 2008, STL determined it could improve productivity by splitting the analysis of these samples using ICP-MS for low-level work and ICP-OES for higher concentration elements.

STL has used PerkinElmer ICP-OES instruments for more than 15 years, with five operating at their soils laboratory in Coventry. STL chose PerkinElmer ICP-OES for its high sample throughput, wide concentration range and freedom from interferences as well as PerkinElmer’s dedicated technical and service teams. STL contacted PerkinElmer to determine whether the new drinking water metals suite could be analysed using the Optima ICP-OES.

Debbie Hoult, ICP Applications Specialist, PerkinElmer, and Phil Clark, STL Principal Scientist, co-developed a method that increased analytical capacity and complied with all United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS) and Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) accreditation requirements.

PerkinElmer’s FAST Optima system includes fast electronics, a high-speed optical system, a sample injection valve and a high-speed rinse option on the autosampler. Sample turnaround time improves through the reduction of wash-in/wash-out times. Also, potential for cross-contamination is less than with conventional systems because the sample does not come into contact with peristaltic pump tubing.

The collaboration between STL and PerkinElmer helped the Bridgend Laboratory significantly increase its capacity. One FAST Optima ICP-OES running STL’s new method analyses up to three times more samples

than the previous method.