Water sample tubes held up against a green riverside

02 — Water testing

Water changes with the season. Test it like it does.

Bore, dam, creek, tank or reuse line — the useful question is usually not 'is it clean' but 'is it suitable for this, at this time of year'. Sampling once tells you about one day. We will help you plan what is worth repeating.

What we can run

Three groups, scoped to the question.

Most jobs need one or two of these, not all three. Scroll through, then tell us which decision the numbers have to support.

General water quality

The baseline that every other interpretation sits on top of.

Start here on a new source. These few numbers explain most of the behaviour you will see later — why a bore scales up a line, why a dam goes green, why a spray mix stops working.

pHfield and laboratory
Electrical conductivityµS/cm
Total dissolved solidsmg/L
TurbidityNTU
Total alkalinitymg/L as CaCO₃
Total hardnessmg/L as CaCO₃
Major ionsNa, K, Ca, Mg, Cl, SO₄, HCO₃

Typically used forNew bore or dam, stock water suitability, tank supply, baseline before a project starts.

Nutrients and catchment chemistry

What is moving off the landscape and into the water.

Nutrient results are most useful as a series. One sample after rain and one in a dry spell will tell you more than four samples taken in the same week. We will help you set the sampling points and the timing so the numbers can be compared.

Scientist sampling water from a rocky stream

Total nitrogenmg/L
Nitrate and nitriteas N
Ammoniaas N
Total phosphorusmg/L
Filterable reactive phosphorusFRP
Dissolved organic carbonmg/L
Chlorophyll-aalgal biomass indicator

Typically used forCatchment and waterway monitoring, riparian restoration, drainage and runoff investigation, effluent reuse.

Irrigation suitability and targeted analysis

Scoped around the source, the risk and what you have to report.

Irrigation water is judged against the soil it lands on, so we read these results together with a soil analysis wherever we can. For anything with a reporting obligation attached, send the guideline you are being held to and we will confirm the methods and holding times before you collect.

Sodium adsorption ratioSAR
Chloride and bicarbonatemg/L
Dissolved and total metalsby ICP
Iron and manganesescaling and staining
E. coli and total coliformsstock and domestic use
Residual chlorinewhere treated

Typically used forIrrigation and fertigation planning, stock and domestic supply, licence and guideline reporting.

Before you collect

Collecting water that still represents the source

Water samples degrade. The gap between collection and analysis is where most of the error creeps in.

Use the bottle we send for the test

Some analyses need a preserved or acid-washed bottle. Do not rinse a pre-preserved bottle — the preservative is already in it.

Rinse three times where the bottle is plain

Rinse with the water you are about to sample, then fill. Cap under the surface where you can.

Purge a bore before you sample

Run it until temperature and EC stabilise, or three casing volumes. Otherwise you are sampling the pipe, not the aquifer.

Leave no headspace for dissolved analyses

Fill to the brim and cap it. Air in the bottle changes dissolved gases, metals and some nutrients.

Chill immediately

Esky and ice bricks, not frozen, straight after collection. Keep it near 4 °C and out of the sun.

Deliver inside the holding time

Microbial tests are the tightest. Confirm the window with us before you collect so the trip is not wasted.

200

400

600

800

Water enquiry

Tell us the source and what it has to be good enough for.

Bore, dam, creek, tank or reuse line — and whether you are judging it against a guideline, a crop or a licence condition.

Start an enquiry info@surelabs.com.au

Sample120 mL

Water testing

Water changes with the season. Test it like it does.

What we can run

Three groups. Tap for the full list.

Before you collect

Collecting water that still represents the source

Water samples degrade. The gap between collection and analysis is where most of the error creeps in.

Use the bottle we send for the test

Some analyses need a preserved or acid-washed bottle. Do not rinse a pre-preserved bottle — the preservative is already in it.

Rinse three times where the bottle is plain

Rinse with the water you are about to sample, then fill. Cap under the surface where you can.

Purge a bore before you sample

Run it until temperature and EC stabilise, or three casing volumes. Otherwise you are sampling the pipe, not the aquifer.

Leave no headspace for dissolved analyses

Fill to the brim and cap it. Air in the bottle changes dissolved gases, metals and some nutrients.

Chill immediately

Esky and ice bricks, not frozen, straight after collection. Keep it near 4 °C and out of the sun.

Deliver inside the holding time

Microbial tests are the tightest. Confirm the window with us before you collect so the trip is not wasted.

Swipe →

Rich brown soil in close up, showing mineral particles and structure

The soil is half the answer.

Water that is fine on one soil will disperse another. We read them together.

Open

Start here

Tell us the source.

Bore, dam, creek, tank or reuse line — and what it has to be good enough for.

Start an enquiry