Zebra mussels attach to a shell.
The Water Chemistry Laboratory at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory – Regents Resource Center is a satellite environmental laboratory located in Milford, Iowa. It conducts analytical testing on both public and private drinking water, groundwater, surface water and wastewater. The lab also assists local water testing facilities.
Lakeside’s newest building is the Waitt Lab, a gift of the Friends of Lakeside Lab. Opened in 1998, it contains the Bovbjerg Water Chemistry Laboratory, two classrooms, several offices and Andrea’s Atrium, which is used for receptions and gatherings.
Staff provides educational and outreach services for local students and citizens, as well as classes and laboratory experiences for college students, interns and teacher externs.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Through the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council Real World Externship, two teachers spent the summer working at the State Hygienic Lab at Lakeside. The teachers spent more than a month learning about water quality testing and data analysis. Both completed several projects, which will be used in the classroom and assist the lab in educating the public regarding lake water quality.
- CLAMP volunteers collected lake water samples that will be analyzed for algal toxins and for the presence/absence of the bluegreen algae (microcystis).
- In partnership with a local wastewater treatment plant, a three-month study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a ultra-violet disinfection unit in killing bacteria prior to discharge.
- Wastewater and surface water: E.coli, Total Phosphorus
- Pool and spa: coliform bacteria, nitrate/nitrite as nitrogen
- Total Kjeldahl nitrogen
