Drinking Water Standards

Significance of the topic

Ensuring the safety of drinking water requires precise measurement of organic and inorganic contaminants at trace levels. Certified reference materials and quality control standards are critical for laboratories to achieve accurate, reproducible results and regulatory compliance under EPA and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) methods.

Objectives and study overview

This resource presents Agilent’s ULTRA chemical standards portfolio, designed to support over 50 EPA methods for drinking water analysis. The catalog aims to deliver a one-stop solution for calibration, internal and surrogate standards, and QC samples for methods ranging from VOCs and haloacetic acids to pesticides, phenols, hormones, and more.

Methodology and Instrumentation

Agilent manufactures all reference materials under a triple-certified system:

• ISO 9001 quality management
• ISO 17025 accredited QC testing
• ISO Guide 34 reference material production

Concentration values are verified gravimetrically or analytically, with uncertainty reported at 95% confidence. Products are supplied with lot-specific certificates of analysis.

Instrumentation used

• Gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC/ECD)
• Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS)
• High-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD)
• Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS)
• Ion chromatography with electrospray ionization MS/MS (IC/ESI-MS/MS)

Main findings and discussion

The catalog details over 7,000 standards, organized by EPA method number. Key offerings include:

• Method 501–524 series: trihalomethanes, VOCs, semivolatiles, pesticides, disinfection by-products
• Method 525–537 series: SOCs, herbicide degradates, phenols, nitrosamines, hormones
• Method 547–557 series: glyphosate, endothall, haloacetic acids, carbonyls, explosives

Each standard is available at multiple concentration levels and formats (solutions, neats), with custom products available on request.

Benefits and practical applications

Laboratories in environmental monitoring, food and beverage, life sciences, and industrial QA/QC benefit from:

• Comprehensive method coverage for regulatory compliance
• Rapid order turnaround and global distribution
• Custom formulations backed by 40 years of compatibility and stability data
• Streamlined workflow integration with Agilent instrumentation and consumables

Future trends and opportunities

As analytical technologies evolve toward higher sensitivity and throughput, demand will grow for new certified materials targeting emerging contaminants (e.g., microplastics additives, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Digital platforms for on-demand standard formulation and data integration will further enhance method robustness and laboratory efficiency.

Conclusion

Agilent ULTRA chemical standards offer an end-to-end solution for drinking water analysis, combining extensive method coverage, rigorous ISO certification, and custom capabilities. This portfolio supports laboratories in delivering accurate, defensible data for the protection of public health.

References

This summary is based on Agilent Technologies’ 2020 ULTRA chemical standards catalog for drinking water analysis and associated EPA method documentation.