Environmental consultancy

• Monitoring the biological quality of watercourses is part of the monitoring of water bodies.
• As part of this process, laboratories take samples and determine the fauna (benthic invertebrates) and flora (diatoms and macrophytes) in watercourses.
• The results of these samplings and analyses are transcribed in the form of quality indicators that help to assess the ecological status of the water.

As part of your accreditation to ISO 17025 and/or approval, your environmental consultancy must meet the requirements of:

• accreditation guides for water sampling, on-site physico-chemical testing of water and biological analysis of aquatic environments
• approvals issued by Ministries of Health to carry out sampling operations 
• approvals issued by Ministries for the Environment to carry out analyses of aquatic environments under the Environment Code
• the Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000/60/EC), which sets targets for preserving aquatic ecosystems.

You must ensure the validity of your results and monitor your performance by comparing it with the results of other laboratories.

Your laboratory is likely to be interested in the following categories of proficiency tests:

• Sampling and in situ measurements
• Biology and ecotoxicology

By taking part in these intercomparisons, your environmental consultancy receives an estimate of its analytical performance, enabling it to improve the quality of its measurements.