The Water Authority of Fiji’s (WAF) National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) recently achieved a milestone after it was awarded an ISO17025 accreditation by International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ).
This accreditation signifies the WAF laboratory’s capabilities to test potable water and wastewater and be technically and scientifically competent for testing biological samples.
WAF General Manager Customer Services and Acting General Manager Operations, Mr. Sekove Uluinayau said this assures the laboratory’s reliability as it will continue to undergo annual assessments by the independent authority, IANZ.
He said WAF continues to reach greater heights with their service delivery and this was just another achievement that reflects the efforts of their highly skilled staff and the proper equipment they work with.
“We congratulate the laboratory team for their achievement and this will be the beginning for WAF to venture into providing quality tests and results to external customers and regulatory bodies,” said Mr. Uluinayau.
“The ISO17025 accreditation assures all our customers, our efforts and competency as experienced staff are involved in carrying out tests of all water types for biological testing.”
“The laboratory uses properly calibrated equipment with proper internal and quality control checks which ensure the effectiveness of our system and procedures. The laboratory carries out biological and chemical tests for all water types. It will now work towards adding other tests under the same process for chemistry parameters ensuring reliability, competency, and assurance,” he said.
To expand their services, Mr. Uluinayau said the laboratory will now work towards adding other chemistry tests to carry out under the same process.
“This recognition allows WAF to take a proactive approach to skill-training and service delivery,” he added.
Mr. Uluinayau said that WAF will ensure that required in-house training and assessments are carried out for the biological testing staff in a timely manner to ensure competency levels are met for testing requirements.