Wastewater Testing Methods

Wastewater results drive permit compliance, treatment decisions and, increasingly, public health surveillance, yet many results are weakened by poor sampling, broken holding times and weak quality control. This programme gives laboratory and plant professionals a practical system for sampling, analysing, controlling and reporting wastewater data that regulators, operators and health authorities can rely on.

25 - 29 October 2026 Location

Kuwait

5 Days

USD 4,300

Most unreliable wastewater data is not caused by the instrument. It is caused by a grab sample taken at the wrong time, a composite sampler that was never checked, a preservative that was missed, a holding time that was exceeded or a method that was never verified for the sample matrix. For wastewater-based surveillance of pathogens the risks are greater still: low concentrations, variable flows, inhibition in molecular assays and biosafety hazards all affect whether the result can be interpreted.

This programme follows the data from the sampling point to the final report. It moves through five stages: planning a sampling programme that represents the flow, running the core physical, chemical and microbiological tests correctly, controlling quality through the laboratory's own checks, applying molecular methods for wastewater-based surveillance, and turning results into reports that support compliance and public health decisions.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, relevant ISO water quality sampling and analysis standards, ISO/IEC 17025 requirements for testing laboratories, World Health Organization guidance on laboratory biosafety and on environmental surveillance of pathogens in wastewater, and established approaches to method validation and measurement uncertainty. Participants learn how these apply in a working laboratory, not only what they require.

Decisions this programme improves. Where and how often to sample; whether a grab or composite sample is fit for the purpose; which method to use for a given parameter and matrix; when to reject or qualify a result; how to set and act on quality control limits; and how much confidence to place in a surveillance signal before it is reported to health authorities.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: a municipal treatment plant laboratory that must report effluent compliance and also support a new surveillance programme. Participants design a sampling plan, review raw data and control charts, investigate a failed quality control batch and prepare a results report with its limitations clearly stated.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own discharge permits, methods, instruments and reporting formats, and delivered for laboratory, operations and environmental compliance teams together so that sampling and analysis are planned as one process.

Who Should Attend

Laboratory staff: chemists, microbiologists, analysts and laboratory supervisors in water and wastewater laboratories

Treatment plant professionals: process engineers, operators and plant supervisors who use test results to run the plant

Environmental compliance staff: officers responsible for discharge permits and regulatory reporting

Public health professionals: staff involved in wastewater-based surveillance programmes

Regulators and inspectors who review wastewater monitoring data

Objectives

Design a sampling plan that defines locations, frequency, grab or flow-proportional composite sampling and chain of custody

Apply correct containers, preservation and holding times for common wastewater parameters

Explain the principles, interferences and limits of core tests such as BOD, COD, suspended solids, nutrients, oils and metals

Select and perform suitable microbiological indicator methods and interpret the results

Verify a method for a wastewater matrix, including detection limit, precision, recovery and measurement uncertainty

Set up and interpret quality control samples, including blanks, duplicates, spikes and control charts

Describe the workflow for detecting pathogen markers in wastewater, from concentration and extraction to PCR analysis

Identify inhibition and normalisation issues that affect the interpretation of surveillance data

Apply risk-based biosafety controls for handling untreated wastewater samples

Prepare a results report that states data quality, limitations and the decision it supports

Course Outline

Planning Sampling That Represents the Flow

Purpose of testing: process control, permit compliance and public health surveillance
Selecting sampling points in sewer networks, influent, process and effluent streams
Grab, time-proportional and flow-proportional composite sampling
Autosampler set-up, cleaning and verification
Containers, preservation, cooling and holding times
Chain of custody, field records and sample reception checks

Core Physical and Chemical Tests

pH, temperature, conductivity and dissolved oxygen in the field and laboratory
Solids: total, suspended, dissolved and settleable
Oxygen demand: BOD and COD, and why their results differ
Nutrients: ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, total nitrogen and phosphorus
Oils and grease, metals and selected organic contaminants
Online analysers and sensors: calibration, verification and data validation

Microbiological and Molecular Methods

Faecal indicator organisms: membrane filtration, most probable number and enzyme substrate methods
Principles of wastewater-based surveillance and what it can and cannot show
Sample concentration and nucleic acid extraction options
qPCR and digital PCR: targets, standards and controls
Recovery controls, inhibition testing and normalisation using flow or faecal markers
Emerging uses: antimicrobial resistance and other targets

Quality Control, Validation and Biosafety

Method verification and validation for wastewater matrices
Detection and quantification limits, precision, bias and recovery
Blanks, duplicates, matrix spikes and reference materials
Control charts, acceptance criteria and corrective action
Estimating and stating measurement uncertainty
Proficiency testing and ISO/IEC 17025 requirements
Risk-based biosafety for untreated wastewater and molecular work

From Results to Decisions: Data Management and Reporting

Data review, flagging and qualifying results
Laboratory information management and data integrity
Reporting against permit limits and handling exceedances
Trend analysis and communicating surveillance signals to health authorities
Coordinating laboratory, operations and regulators
Action plan: strengthening your laboratory's testing system

Competencies

Wastewater sampling planning and chain of custody

Sample preservation and holding time control

Physical and chemical wastewater analysis

Microbiological indicator testing

Molecular methods for wastewater-based surveillance

Method verification and measurement uncertainty

Laboratory quality control and control charting

Biosafety for wastewater laboratories

Data review and compliance reporting

Kuwait

Train in Kuwait City with access to Elite Academy’s full portfolio of professional programs. In a city known as a key Gulf business and government center with an established professional environment, organizations and professionals can join upcoming courses or request any program to be arranged locally. Professional training in Kuwait City is not limited to a specific group of subjects. Elite Academy makes its complete portfolio available in the city across management, business, technical and industry-focused disciplines. With a key Gulf business and government center with an established professional environment, Kuwait City provides an effective setting for international learning. Use the schedule below to view courses already planned for the destination, or contact our team to request another program and preferred dates in Kuwait City, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.

Wastewater Testing Methods

Who Should Attend

Objectives

Course Outline

Planning Sampling That Represents the Flow

Core Physical and Chemical Tests

Microbiological and Molecular Methods

Quality Control, Validation and Biosafety

From Results to Decisions: Data Management and Reporting

Competencies

Kuwait

Related Topics

GIS for Environmental Management

Environmental Benchmarking

Global Sustainability Assessment System | GSAS