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This is a reminder to all public water systems of their regulatory responsibility to ensure that any laboratory used for drinking water compliance monitoring holds valid accreditation from the California Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP).
California regulations require that all drinking water compliance analyses be performed by laboratories accredited by ELAP for the specific analysis being conducted. This requirement is essential to ensure the validity, reliability, and regulatory acceptance of water quality data used to demonstrate compliance with health-based standards. Accordingly, water systems must verify a laboratory’s current ELAP accreditation for the specific method and analyte before using it for compliance monitoring.
Results from unaccredited laboratories cannot be used to meet regulatory requirements. Water systems utilizing unaccredited laboratories will be considered out of compliance with drinking water monitoring regulations, which may lead to enforcement actions and damage to public confidence.
Locate an ELAP-accredited Laboratory:
ELAP maintains an interactive GIS map on the right side of its web page to locate nearby accredited laboratories. Using the interactive map, individuals can search for an accredited laboratory by name, location, or certified field of testing. The California ELAP Certified Laboratories Map can be found: HERE
- Use the Search Box to look for one near you or in a city
- Use the zoom feature to zoom into a general area
- Green circles O denote commercial certified laboratories
- Use the filter in the top right of the map for broad category of analysis
Find out if the Selected Laboratory is Certified for the Analysis you Need:
- Once you select a laboratory from the map, click on the circle
- Contact information for the laboratory is displayed as well as the field of testing/Field of Accreditation List
- The List provides a comprehensive list of the individual analyses the selected laboratory is certified to process as well as the expiration date for the certification
- Contact the laboratory directly for both the Field of Accreditation List for the laboratory and any of the laboratory’s subcontracting laboratory(ies)
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