Good Harbour Laboratories (GHL): Helping Stormwater Equipment Manufacturers Obtain Validation, Verification and Certification

    TORONTO, ON, November 01, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Good Harbour Laboratories (GHL) has been testing stormwater and wastewater treatment devices and has actively shared its expertise and knowledge with the water environment community for over a decade. This month Greg Williams, the Managing Director of GHL, participated in a number of panels/presentations at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC). WEFTEC offers water quality professionals from around the world the best water quality education and training, and is the largest conference of its kind in North America. Greg was a panel member during the Stormwater Equipment Manufacturers Association (SWEMA) Breakfast Forum panel presentation. The panel tackled two major questions: 1) what challenges are facing MTDs today and 2) what are the best ways to test and monitor MTDs. He also participated in the presentation of the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) Guidance on Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Evaluation. The new ITRC guidance includes a document that discusses the assessment and operation of post construction BMPs as well as a BMP Screening Tool. The screening tool is an Excel based database that allows users to find appropriate BMPs by entering treatment requirements.

Stormwater Treatment Device Verification/Certification

GHL participated in the recent update to the ETV Canada Procedure for Laboratory Testing of Oil-Grit Separators (OGS). Bulletin – CETV 2018-09-0001 updates the Light Liquid Re-entrainment part of the procedure based on experience trying to run the procedure in the lab. This change only affects how the unit is loaded prior to testing and it does not impact any already verified technologies.

The first stormwater product to go through an entirely ISO 14034 compliant verification, Hydro International's First Defense High Capacity® OGS, is now posted in the Verified Technologies sections of the ETV Canada and VerifiGlobal websites. As with the other OGS on the ETV Canada website, this product was tested according to the ETV Canada Procedure for Laboratory Testing of Oil-Grit Separators. What makes this verification unique is that the test lab, GHL, is ISO 17020 compliant as is the verifier, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).

In another first, earlier this year the Cultec Separator Row® became the first chamber system to achieve ETV verification. Since this system is not an OGS it cannot follow the ETV Canada Procedure for Laboratory Testing of Oil-Grit Separators and a separate protocol had to be created. This protocol is now posted on and can be downloaded from the GHL website. Having this protocol available will assist end users in understanding the Cultec verification statement and will provide guidance for other manufacturers of similar devices that are considering ETV Canada/ISO 14034 verification.

GHL is now in the process of changing its accreditation from ISO 9001 to ISO 17025. The new quality system will contain all of the elements of the old system, now with more of an emphasis on testing for Suspended Sediment Concentration. Other test methods will be added to the scope of accreditation in the coming months.

Contact GHL to start the stormwater/wastewater device verification/certification and/or validation process.

About GHL

For the past 12 years Environmental Technology Testing company, Good Harbour Laboratories (GHL) has been helping American and Canadian manufacturers fine-tune and test their equipment for compliance/accreditation. GHL provides unbiased, independent test results to equipment manufacturers, end users and regulators. Their 930 sq. m(10,000 sq. ft) full-service research and testing lab operates independent of any manufacturer and can be configured to accommodate almost any kind of equipment. It can provide flow rates from 0.1 L/s (1 gpm) up to 80 L/s (1,200 gpm), which is sufficient for testing many full-scale industrial/commercial water treatment systems. The GHL facility also includes an on-site analytical lab that can rapidly analyze for several common water contaminants, and an on-site workshop and machine shop for making or modifying prototypes. Good Harbour Labs operates a Quality Management System (QMS) and has been ISO 9001 accredited since 2015 and all GHL staff are trained scientists or engineers with decades of experience in research, development and testing.

Additional GHL Services

• Grease Interceptor Testing
• Environmental Testing and Verification (ETV) Program (Consortium members)
• Product Development Services
• Independent Observation of Client In-house Testing
• Sediment Blending
• Scientific and Experimental Research and Development (SR&ED) Service

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