Emma Hambley

Laboratory Analyst

Northumbrian Water Ltd.

My Role.

• The Laboratories and Sampling team provides a scientific sampling and analytical data service 365 days a year across water and wastewater areas. The results provide regulatory assurance to both the DWI and the EA, operational support to the Water and Wastewater directorates and external income through commercial work outside of NWG. 

Wastewater.

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Wastewater is collected from our domestic and commercial customers properties via the sewerage network and pumping stations. It is then treated at our works before it is returned to the environment as either clean water or sludge which can be recycled as fertiliser and also used to sustainably generate energy. We are also a key stakeholder in all developer services activities, supporting and influencing new development whilst working collaboratively on catchment management. 
• Delivering an unrivalled customer service and protecting the environment are at the heart of our approach to strategically plan for the future and in our day to day management of our asset base.
• Wastewater Treatment and Bioresources​​​​​​​
• The team are responsible for the treatment and recycling of wastewater effluent via sewage pumping stations and treatment works located from Berwick to Skiningrove. Sewage sludge which is a bi-product from the treatment process is also used a raw material for digestion, to create power from poo and gas to grid.
• Wastewater Networks
• The team are responsible for the management of the sewerage network, ensuring over 30,000km of sewers and associated assets are maintained and operating effectively to reduce the risk of flooding to our customers and prevent unconsented discharges to the environment.​​​​​​​
• Wastewater Service Planning, Quality and Performance
• The team are responsible for setting the strategic asset management objectives which balance service, asset and business requirements. This includes system planning and the balancing of work programmes and portfolios for delivery, to achieve our strategic objectives. The team also monitor our performance against our plan commitments, lead regulatory liaison with the Environment Agency and lead developer services activities.

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Water

• Water is a team of 840 serving 4.5m customers across the north east, Essex and Suffolk, ensuring that a consistently high quality product reaches our customers.
• ​​​​​​​Our vision is to be national leader in the provision of sustainable water.��​​​​​​​We will achieve this by delivering an unrivalled customer experience now and into the future, with our teams working together to manage the water journey from source to tap.��​​​​​​​As well as 44 impounding reservoirs, our teams work across 57 Water Treatment Works, 344 Pumping stations and 338 Water Service Reservoirs.  We also have a total of 25,545km of water mains, around 4 times the length of the Great Wall of China!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Water supply North

• Water Supply North is responsible for the manufacturing of sufficient water to meet the approximate 2.7 million customers within the North East. In order to meet our customer and regulator expectations we break the area down into different areas that cover our complete geographical patch from Darligton in the South of the North East up to and including the area of Berwick which is knocking on the Scottish borders.

Water supply South

• Essex & Suffolk Water provides water services to two separate supply areas.
• Our Essex area, which has a population of 1.5 million, is part rural and part urban with the main areas of population being in Chelmsford, Southend and the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge.
• We serve a population of 0.3 million in our Suffolk area, which is mainly rural with the biggest towns being Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

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Water Quality & Assurance

• This department incorporates the key areas of water quality compliance and public health, water regulations (fittings) inspections and process support.   Each team plays a companywide role, covering each of three operating areas of NWL. 
• Water Quality 
• The team is the primary contact with the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), interpreting drinking water quality legislation and translating it into business practice. This starts with the creation of an annual sample programme which ensures a robust data set on water quality is obtained from raw water abstraction through to treatment, networks and the customer end user. This generates tens of thousands of data points per year which the team assess and report upon monthly to DWI. If a water quality standard is exceeded or an incident occurs which affects service or customer acceptability, the team puts actions in place to protect public health and carries out a root-cause investigation into the breach which is then reported on to DWI. The team also provides operational technical support on a day to day basis and supports capital investment projects in scope development and commissioning activities. 
• Water Regulations 
• The purpose of the team is to audit the plumbing and backflow arrangements of third-party premises to ensure they are compliant with the Water Fittings Regulations and do not subject the public water supply to any contamination, waste, misuse or undue consumption. The work includes an assessment of the size and nature all commercial or non-household premises in order to form a risk-based rolling programme of inspections. In addition, the team will work with developers of new estates to make sure both the connections to the public water supply and any white goods installed within new properties are fit for purpose before such connections are authorised. Where contraventions are identified in each situation, an action plan is agreed with the owner which will be enforced against by the team should action plans are not followed or implemented. 
• Water Regulations also carry out inspections of domestic properties on a reactive basis to support any investigation into water quality compliance failures, and deliver training and assessment of both ground workers and approved plumbing schemes to ensure competency is being maintained in those activities.  
• Process Support
• The Process Control Technicians help overcome complex treatment issues at the Water Treatment Works and minimise the use of treatment chemicals.

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Scientific Services Howdon

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• Waters & effluents can be analysed for a range of organic and inorganic tests at our flagship laboratory at Howdon, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
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• Lab Facts:
• Located in North East UK
• Services clients nationwide
• 2,300m2 lab facility
• Analyses over 150 methods
• Tests over 650,000 samples per year
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• We have recently spent over 2 million pounds to refurbish this laboratory, investing heavily in the latest instrumentation and in optimising sample flow through the lab. This affirms our commitment to providing high quality testing and analysis of waters and wastewaters now and into the future.

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What we analyse

• We have decades of experience in analysing the following matrices for a wide variety of organic and inorganic parameters:
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• Matrices:
• Waters (potable, bottled, & private water supplies)
• Effluents
• Waste waters
• Solids
• Sludges

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• Example Parameters:
• Metals
• pH, conductivity, turbidity, nutrients, colour, BOD, COD
• Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, total nitrogen
• Pesticides & herbicides
• VOC, SVOC (incl. PAH′s, phthalates, organotins) and hydrocarbons
• Dioxins, PCB′s, PBDE′s

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Analyst 2

• I currently work in the LCMS Laboratory. I test wastewater and commercial samples for anions ( fluoride, bromide, chloride and sulphate).
• I do this through ion chromatography.
• A known volume of sample is diluted and using an ion chromatography instrument runs through a collum which separates the ions and polar molecules.
• I use a peak flow graph to analyse the results and report the findings.

• I have worked for Northumbrian water for just over 17 years.
• I started in sample preparation ( Preparing soil, sludge , hair, you name it samples for other teams.
• I then moved into organic prep where I prepared samples for organic testing.
• I then worked in Dioxins analysing Dioxin samples.
• I then went to sample reception and booked samples in sent bottle orders out and delt with clients on the phone and face to face.
• I then went to work in wet chemistry where I analysed wastewater samples for such dets as Ph, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand and solids.
• We also analysed oil and grease here which is where we test commercial wastewater for its fats oil and grease content. This is a serios problem and businesses can be heavily fined for realising too much oil or grease into the water network.
• And now I am in LCMS

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• And the main question answered is yes, I analyse POO!!!!!!

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About Me

• I began my career in 2000 when I undertook an Apprentership in scientific studies.
• I worked 4 days a week for Pattinsons scientific services as a trainee microbiology technician and one day a week 8am until 8pm I attended Newcastle college and studied applied sciences, so chemistry, physics , maths and biology.
• My second year I chose to specialise in biology.
• At the end of my course, I obtained a BTECH national diploma and NVQ LEVEL3
• I moved from Pattinsons and worked at TAG producing synthetic DNA for university students.
• I left the scientific field for a bit and tried my hand at other work, then eventually decided science was for me.
• I am now in a position where I am undertaking a company progression model the move to the next analyst level I am applying to register as an RSCITECH with the royal society of chemistry and may even go on to do my foundation degree.