Chemistry and Water Quality Laboratory

The SSI chemistry lab is responsible for analyzing all water quality and soil samples collected from our monitoring and restoration programs, and additionally provides fee for service analyses for community members, partner organizations, and as part of longer-term contracts. The lab is fully outfitted to analyze chemical and biological attributes of water quality, including nutrients and bacteria.

Chemistry Lab FAQs

What analyses does the chemistry lab perform?

Nutrients

We can test for:

• Nitrate (NO₃^–)
• Phosphate (PO₄^-3)
• Ammonia (NH₄⁺)
• Silica (SiO₂)

Nutrients provide the fundamental chemical “building blocks” of biomolecules like proteins and DNA. These include: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Silicon (Si), Sulfur (S), and other elements. Nitrogen and phosphorous are the major nutrients required for aquatic life, and are often bonded to other elements in the form of phosphate (PO₄^-3), nitrate (NO₃^–), and ammonia (NH₄⁺).

Nutrients are very important to aquatic life, but in large amounts, a process called eutrophication, they can algae to grow faster than the ecosystem can handle.

Bacteria

We are able to provide estimates of total coliform and E. coli bacteria.

Coliform bacteria are present in soil, animal waste, and surface water. High coliform bacteria concentrations may indicate contamination of water by animal waste, such as next to a dog park, and surface water runoff.

E. coli is an indicator species of fecal coliforms, and can indicate the presence of harmful bacteria. Fecal coliforms are present in the feces of warm-blooded animals. E. coli helps us identify sewage and septic leaks, or leaks from wastewater treatment plants.

In large quantities, bacteria represent a threat to human health, particularly for very young or elderly people. It is important to make sure that water you are drinking or swimming in is below safe bacteria thresholds. We tend to see raised bacteria levels right during and right after storms and during late summer when water is warmer. Raised bacteria levels can also help identify sewage or septic leaks.

Heavy Metals

We are able to test for heavy metals in soils. Heavy metals are naturally found in soil, but contamination due to mining can increase certain heavy metal concentrations. Our lab is able to test for heavy metals including:

• Mercury (Hg)
• Arsenic (As)
• Cadmium (Cd)
• Lead (Pb)
• Silver (Ag)

Some metals, like Nickel and Zinc, are micronutrients for organisms. However, heavy metals such as the ones listed above are toxic and harmful to aquatic life. They can also be harmful to humans, and SSI is happy to provide testing in garden or other soils. You can click below to learn more about our projects and research around rural health and the impacts of mining.

Fee for Service

Are you interested in having your water or soil tested? The SSI chemistry and water quality lab provides a fee for service program to community members, partner organizations, and is willing to contract with businesses, agencies, and other interested entities to provide regular or one-off testing.

Contact:

lab@sierrastreamsinstitute.org

(530) 470-6037 x1

Free Testing for Community Members:

The SSI chemistry lab offers one free test to all community members. If you’re interested in having your well water or garden soil tested for contamination, please reach out to the chemistry lab by email or phone.

Analysis Fees