SENAITE for water quality labs

A water lab's day looks roughly the same everywhere: field teams collect samples on scheduled routes, samples arrive with pre-registered analysis profiles, results come off ICP-MS, ion chromatography, GC-MS, TOC analysers, microbiological plates, then the report goes both to the client and to the regulator. SENAITE handles this end-to-end without custom-code detours.

• Pre-registered sampling schedules. Sampling points, matrices (drinking water, raw water, wastewater, surface water, sludge), and analysis profiles are all first-class objects. A Monday route pre-books its samples in one click.
• Intake with barcode-driven login. Samples reach reception with a printed label; the barcode scanner opens the sample view. Chain of custody is captured from that moment on.
• Worksheet-based bench work. Analysts run worksheets grouped by method: one worksheet for anions on IC, one for metals on ICP-MS, one for coliforms on plates. Instrument data flows in via CSV import or a real-time interface.
• Multi-level verification. Analyst enters, supervisor verifies, lab manager releases. Every step is signed with actor and timestamp.
• Report and regulator upload. The PDF goes to the client; a structured export (CSV, XML, JSON) feeds the regulator portal.

Water labs run a predictable instrument set. SENAITE integrates with all of it, either through CSV drop folders, ASTM/HL7 for the newer instruments, or via the JSON API for bespoke bridges.

• ICP-MS and ICP-OES for trace metals (Pb, Cd, As, Ni, Cu, Zn and the rest of the Drinking Water Directive metals list). Instrument exports are picked up by an import adapter; results land on the corresponding analyses in one pass.
• Ion chromatography for anions (F, Cl, NO2, NO3, SO4, PO4). Same story: instrument exports, one adapter, results in.
• GC-MS for pesticides, PAHs, VOCs. Bulk-import of quantification files with per-analyte mapping.
• TOC analysers for organic carbon on drinking water.
• Microbiology. Coliform, E. coli, enterococci, Legionella — plate counts entered via worksheet or scanned from a colony counter.
• Portable field devices (pH, conductivity, turbidity, chlorine). Data uploaded from the tablet at end of shift.

For the instruments we have not integrated with before, the ASTM 2.0 protocol handler in SENAITE plus a small adapter usually gets the job done in days, not months.

Water labs live under a stack of regulations. SENAITE handles the technical requirements each of them puts on the LIMS.

• ISO/IEC 17025. Full audit trail on every field, immutable published results, method traceability from sample through analysis, calibration and QC data attached to worksheets, controlled document handling for SOPs and methods.
• EU Drinking Water Directive (2020/2184). Parametric values mapped to analysis specifications; automatic flagging on out-of-spec results; the structured export a member state needs for the periodic report.
• WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. The same specification-based approach, with locale-specific parametric-value tables configured per lab.
• Regional wastewater directives (Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC and successors). Sampling plans and effluent monitoring tracked as recurring campaigns.

None of this needs custom code. All of it is configuration, done by the implementation team at rollout, adjusted by lab management thereafter.

Water testing is often multi-site: a central lab, a handful of regional labs, sampling teams in the field. Public procurement adds constraints commercial vendors do not always solve well.

• Sovereignty. SENAITE runs on your hardware or on EU-hosted infrastructure. No sample data leaves the jurisdiction that regulates it.
• Cost predictability. No per-user or per-sample fees, no true-up bills for a busy year. Costs are the services around the platform, which you can plan and tender.
• Procurement fit. Open-source software is procurement-friendly under most public tender frameworks. There is no single vendor being locked in.
• Roles that match a public lab's org chart. Sampler, analyst, QA officer, lab manager, external auditor — each with their own permission scope out of the box.