About ENPHO Lab

Background

Ever increasing use of synthetic chemicals in various products such as cosmetics, household appliances, food & beverage additives, electronics, agricultural products and unsafe disposal of these materials onto the environment have severely polluted the environment including water resources.  In addition, unplanned and rapid urbanization has been putting tremendous pressure in proper provision of safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities and sustainable waste/wastewater management particularly in developing countries. Every year, thousands tons of wastewater including industrial effluents with toxic substances are disposed of untreated and haphazardly into the water bodies. As a result, millions of people are dying because of water borne and environment related diseases. To address these problems, appropriate strategies and management plans should be formulated based on the local conditions and need. Hence, in order to formulate these strategies, analytical services for detecting and quantifying chemical and microbiological contaminants is very much needed.

ENPHO Laboratory

Since its establishment in 1990, Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) laboratory has been providing analytical services on water, wastewater, air, soil, compost, food and recently in faecal sludge analysis. ENPHO laboratory has been accredited under the NEPLAS criteria (based on ISO 17025) by Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM), Government of Nepal since 2057 BS. The main objective of ENPHO laboratory, through its services, is to contribute to ENPHO’s overall vision of creating healthy and eco-friendly society. Besides, ENPHO laboratory has established itself as an important platform for research and development activities in the sector of water, sanitation and environment.

Services:

• Drinking water sampling and analysis
• Surface and ground water quality analysis
• Wastewater sampling and analysis
• Faecal sludge sampling and analysis
• Soil, compost, food analysis
• Research and development in environmental technologies

Trainings:

• Water sample collection and preservation technique
• Water quality testing in field and in laboratory
• Microbial water quality monitoring and testing in field
• ENPHO Water test kit training
• Mini-lab establishment training

 

Other Features:

• We use software based laboratory information management system for computerized data storage and report generation.
• We are developing mobile based app to receive your orders and deliver water quality testing service at your doorstep.
• We also provide sample bottles for sample collection with necessary treatment and preservatives as required by standard methods.
• We also provide water collection services.

Products developed at ENPHO lab:

• Piyush Plus – 0.7% chlorine solution for water disinfection
• Piyush – 0.5% chlorine solution for water disinfection
• Chlorine solution (1%)
• ENPHO Water Field Test Kit (10 parameters)
• ENPHO Arsenic Field Test Kit
• Free Residual Chlorine Test Kit
• H2S producing Coliform Presence/Absence Test Vial
• E. coli and Coliform test vial (ECC) vial
• Swachha Colloidal Silver Filter

Research at ENPHO lab:

ENPHO Laboratory’s persistent efforts to contribute to a healthier and sustainable future can be reflected through a variety of its research and development activities on:

• Study on alum dosing for water treatment in emergencies
• Water quality testing in earthquake affected districts
• Study on microbial quality in western Nepal
• Study on efficiency of ceramic candle filters
• Bacteriological water quality at street food vendors
• Trend of groundwater quality of kathmandu valley 2010-2015
• Characterization of wastewater in Nepal
• Human urine application in rice and potato production
• Rapid assessment of rainwater quality in Kathmandu Valley
• Study on bacteria removal efficiency of different handwashing materials and techniques
• Shelf -life study of Piyush and Piyush Plus
• Report on study of effectiveness of sanitizer developed at ENPHO Laboratory
• Development and validation of ECC vial for simultaneous detection of coliform and E. Coli in drinking water samples
• Wastewater analysis of small-scale sanitation systems of Nepal
• Water quality monitoring of different water supply schemes

Milestones

• Pioneered in bringing public awareness on air and water quality monitoring in Nepal.
• Introduced arsenic testing and water quality testing field kits for the first time in Nepal.
• Vital contribution in research and development of Kanchan Arsenic Filter - a simple amd effective arsenic filter at household level.
• Developed Coliform Presence/Absence and E. coli and coliform testing (ECC) vial.
• Carried out water quality testing in all 77 districts of Nepal.

Resources

ENPHO laboratory is situated in its own premises at Thapagaon, New Baneshwor in Kathmandu, and occupies an area of around 2000 sq. ft. ENPHO laboratory is equipped with sophisticated instruments like Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS), UV-spectrometer, distillation, digestion units, distilled water production unit, incubators, ovens and field test kits. A competent team comprising chemists, microbiologists, environmental scientists and chemists are involved in sampling, laboratory analysis & measurement, quality control and project design & implementation at ENPHO Lab.

Instruments

ENPHO lab is equipped with many sophisticated analytical Instruments which are as stated below:

1. pH and Electrical Conductivity Meters
2. UV Spectrophotometer
3. Digestion Unit (COD, Total Nitrogen)
4. Distillation Unit
5. Instruments for Microbiological Analysis
6. Laminar Flow Cabinet for Microbiological Analysis
7. Atomic Absorption Spectrometer
8. 4-digit Analytical Balance
9. Double Distillation Unit for Distilled Water Production
10. Autoclave
11. Oven and
12. Incubators

We analyse samples from different kinds of sources like tap, ground water, drinking water treatment systems, swimming pool, surface waters (springs and streams), domestic sewage, industrial effluents, institutional wastewater, wastewater treatment plants, fecal sludge treatment plant, bottled water, hospitals, pharmaceutical industries and many more.

 

For more accurate results especially for research purposes or designing treatment systems, water needs to be tested in a fully competent and accredited laboratory.