Office of Water | EPA 817-F-08-007 | October 2008 | www.epa.gov/watersecurity

Water Laboratory Alliance 

Background

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 (HSPD 9) directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to 

“develop nationwide laboratory networks for... water quality that integrate existing Federal and State laboratory 

resources, are inter-connected, and utilize standardized diagnostic protocols and procedures.” In response to 

HSPD 9, EPA’s Office of Water proposed and initiated the development of the Water Laboratory Alliance 

(WLA). 

Purpose 

The purpose of the WLA is to provide the water/wastewater sector with an integrated nationwide network of 

laboratories with the analytical capability and capacity to support monitoring, surveillance, and remediation in 

response to intentional and unintentional water contamination events involving chemical, biological, and 

radiochemical contaminants. 

Approach for Development 

The WLA is being developed based on existing networks. It is being designed to leverage existing laboratory 

network capability, capacity, and infrastructure to fill gaps in national laboratory preparedness for 

water/wastewater analyses. Laboratory infrastructure that is being leveraged from other networks includes 

analytical methods, membership criteria, and critical materials such as laboratory reagents. 

The WLA integrates drinking water, wastewater, public health and environmental laboratories and select 

commercial laboratories that currently provide analytical support to government agencies. The WLA focuses 

solely on water and is an integral part of EPA’s Environmental Response Laboratory Network (ERLN). The 

ERLN is a network with a similar purpose as the WLA but will focus on analyses of all other environmental 

matrices. 

Benefits 

Benefits of WLA participation include improved laboratory preparedness for response to emergency situations 

and improved communications with peer laboratories to help address emerging analytical, laboratory security, or 

laboratory operation challenges. In addition, WLA members will have access to water security-related training 

opportunities, analytical support to address analyses not conducted by their laboratory, and standardized 

analytical methods and data reporting systems. In the future, WLA laboratories will also have access to EPAprepared proficiency testing samples for unregulated contaminants. 

WLA to Date 

A number of activities have been initiated in support of the WLA. Activities completed to date include: 

development and evaluation of Regional Laboratory Response Plans for each of the 10 EPA Regions and an 

additional plan for Hawaii; identification of priority contaminants of concern, methods, and method gaps for 

priority contaminants; development of Sampling Guidance for Unknown Contaminants in Drinking Water; and 

development of training for Laboratory Chain of Custody and Evidence Preservation. Ongoing activities 

include: developing and validating chemical methods; funding the establishment of a Home Base for 

environmental laboratories; and initial development of quality control criteria for the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention Laboratory Response Network (CDC LRN) ultrafiltration device, which concentrates 

large-volume (up to 100 L) water samples for subsequent select agent analyses. WLA development activities 

include: 

Drinking Water Laboratory Response Preparedness Project. The Office of Water and EPA Regional 

Laboratory Chiefs have developed Regional Laboratory Response Plans for each of the 10 EPA Regions 

and an additional plan for Hawaii to help with improving intra-regional laboratory preparedness for 
Water Laboratory Alliance page 2

Office of Water | EPA 817-F-08-007 | October 2008 | www.epa.gov/watersecurity

responding to actual or suspected contamination events. The objective of this project is to develop a 

functional, customized region-specific laboratory response plan. Each regional plan has been revised 

based on the lessons learned during table-top exercises completed in August 2007. Functional exercises 

intended to assess region-specific laboratory capability and performance were completed in September 

2008. The region-specific laboratory response plans will be updated based on the results of the functional 

exercises, as necessary. A national response plan will be developed based on the Regional Laboratory 

Response Plans and used to integrate the regional networks into a nationally-consistent Water Laboratory 

Alliance program. 

Chemical Method Development and Validation. Through 2006, EPA’s Office of Water targeted 16 

unregulated contaminants of interest to the water sector for single-laboratory method validation by 

adapting existing drinking water methods. Method validation studies using ion chromatography (Method 

300.1), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fluorescence detector (Method 531.2), 

and HPLC with a UV detector (based on Method 532) were initiated. An additional study was also 

pursued to determine whether gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) Methods 524.2 and 525.2 

were adequate to screen drinking water for unregulated contaminants. In addition, EPA’s Office of Water 

collaborated with EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) to conduct a method 

development study using gas chromatograph-mass spectroscopy (Method 525.2). The ion chromatography 

(Method 300.1) and GC-MS (Methods 524.2 and 525.2) studies were successful. The NHSRC study 

using Method 525.2 and the HPLC with UV detection study were also successful for some analytes. 

During 2007, two follow-up method validation studies were conducted. The first was a multi-laboratory 

validation of Method 300.1 for two EPA Office of Water unregulated contaminants and the second was a 

single-laboratory validation of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method to address 

additional gaps in environmental capability. 

Ultrafiltration Quality Control (QC) Criteria Development Project. The WLA currently relies on the 

CDC’s LRN for concentration and analysis of select agents and toxins from large volumes (10-100 liters) 

of drinking water using the LRN Filter Concentration for the Detection of Bioterrorism Threat Agents in 

Potable Water Samples referred to as the “LRN UF” protocol. The LRN UF protocol requires 

comprehensive training and use to achieve and maintain proficiency. However, QC criteria to 

demonstrate proficiency with water have not been developed. As a result, there is a critical need for 

standardized QC criteria for implementation of the LRN UF procedure in support of the WLA. 

The Ultrafiltration QC criteria study design was developed through a collaborative effort with subject 

matter experts from CDC and was approved by EPA in March 2008. The study includes an eight-phase 

approach requiring extensive preliminary analyses prior to development of QC criteria by up to 16 LRN 

volunteer laboratories. To date, a vegetative bacterium, virus, and spore surrogate have been evaluated 

and selected for use in the study. In addition, the applicability of BioBallTM spikes and the analytical 

methods have been deemed acceptable. Initiation of QC criteria development at the LRN laboratories will 

begin in 2009.

Home Base for Environmental Laboratories. EPA’s Office of Water funded a cooperative agreement 

to initiate the development of a National Home Base for environmental laboratories to enhance capability 

and capacity of environmental laboratories and disseminate educational programs and tools for 

environmental laboratories. The effort enhanced the flow of information to and from environmental 

laboratories and increased the awareness of environmental water security issues. 

Contact Us 

For more information on the WLA, contact EPA Office of Water’s Latisha Mapp (Mapp.Latisha@epa.gov) or 

Anand Mudambi (Mudambi.Anand@epa.gov). Information on EPA Office of Water’s activities, tools, 

products, and the latest scientific advances to protect drinking water and wastewater utilities is available online 

at http://www.epa.gov/watersecurity.