Page 19 - Energize July 2022

NEWS

Specialist monitoring company

acquires water test lab

ondition monitoring specialist company, WearCheck, has for drinking water safety, both private and in the restaurant trade for
brought their sister company, Set Point Water Laboratories, making juices and coffees – and they want to know the hardness of
Cinto the fold, adding a new division to the firm’s scientific their municipal water as it affects their coffee machines.
testing structure. “In addition to the above, scope water can be used for dialysis.
The water analysis company is now integrated fully into It is important to note the patients on dialysis have little to no
WearCheck, and forms yet another area of expertise together kidney function. Kidneys help compensate for the higher intake of
with its other services, which include scientific used oil analysis, substances obtained from food and drinks that would otherwise build
asset reliability care, transformer oil testing and lubricant-enabled up in the body. Dialyzing with pure water prevents the exposure of
reliability services. substances/toxins that cannot be eliminated from the body.
Set Point Water Laboratories is ISO 17025:2017-accredited, and “We are currently doing some water quality checks for a renal
tests water from any source – ranging from drinking water to factory unit to ensure suitability for dialysis. Irrigation water quality is a
effluent, and everything in between – to determine the presence and critical aspect of greenhouse crop production. Water with high
levels of potentially harmful substances. alkalinity can affect nutrients uptake by the plants and cause nutrient
Set Point Water Laboratories was established in Johannesburg in deficiency which compromises plant health.
1998 as a minerals laboratory, then known as Set Point Laboratories. “Borehole water testing is a popular item with customers who
The company introduced water testing in 2013 and expanded with want to know whether the water is safe to use on their garden, to
the launch of a Cape Town water laboratory in 2019, achieving fill the pool, to drink and use in the household. For example, in Cape
accreditation of the Cape Town Laboratory in 2020, and thereafter Town, many boreholes have high salt content, and, after testing the
focusing only on water analysis. water, some customers have to dilute it with municipal water or put
Thelma Horsfield, the general manager of Set Point Water processes in place to remove most of the salts.
Labs, in outlining the company’s services, says: “Our laboratory “Through WearCheck, our water facilities provide analytical
technicians select the relevant tests for the water sample depending services through an extensive network of operations in South Africa
on the needs of the customer. They identify what is wrong with and internationally. As a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, adds
the water and advise customers on possible consequences of Horsfield, “we added alcohol content testing to our services as well
using or discarding such water. Water analysis is conducted using as a newly introduced logistics solution to enable easy movement of
various accredited techniques such as photometric, electrometric, water and sanitizer samples.”
colorimetric, gravimetric, ICP-OES, ICP MS and enzyme substrates. Previously, WearCheck was part of the larger Set Point group until
These techniques obtain the best possible results in chemical and the company was bought by current owners Synerlytic in 2019, along
microbial analysis of effluent/wastewater, drinking water, processed with SetPoint Water Laboratories.
water, surface water and groundwater. WearCheck Water Laboratories telephone numbers remain
“In the case of industrial operations needing to dispose of unchanged: Cape Town (021) 111 0056, Johannesburg (011) 923
wastewater into a river system, the sea or even simply down the 7100. The company’s email address is still splinfo@setpoint.co.za
drain, there are strict by-laws that must be adhered to, outlining and its website can be accessed here https://www.wearcheck.co.za/
the ‘acceptable’ levels of contaminants before disposal, to prevent testing-analysis-water or www.setpointwaterlaboratories.co.za
possible fines or even prosecution. Our water technicians determine
the exact levels of contaminants and advise on acceptable levels for Contact WearCheck, Phone 031 700-5460,
safe discarding. Many of our mining customers operate boreholes, support@wearcheck.co.za, www.wearcheck.co.za
using the water in the mining process. We regularly monitor the
water quality from the boreholes to test whether contaminants from
the mining process have leached into the water supply.
“As an example, cyanide is commonly used in gold mining. The
presence of this toxin must be constantly monitored. Uranium is
commonly found in the ore with gold, and as uranium is radioactive,
it is important to monitor the levels and check whether it has
leached into the water supply. This is even an issue on disused
mines and mine dumps – many of our customers living near these
come to us to test the quality of their drinking water. Chromium-6,
a carcinogenic element, is a by-product from chrome mines, so it Here, water lab assistant
Andisiwe Gwavu is seen checking
is important to know if humans will be ingesting water with high balances in WearCheck’s Water
levels of this. Health is a primary reason for many of our customers Laboratory in Cape Town.

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