Development of a sustainable traceability and dissemination system providing Europe-wide comparable measurement results in water analysis under the WFD
Project Description
The EU water framework directive 2000/60/EC requires internationally comparable results of surveillance measurements of certain hazardous substances in surface, ground and coastal/transitional water within the EU. The aim of the project is to support the implementation of this directive by providing a sustainable metrological traceability and dissemination system for Europe-wide comparable measurement results.
The proposed project intends to link the NMIs with the large number of monitoring (routine) laboratories via calibration laboratories acting as multiplier on an intermediate level of the dissemination chain. The potential calibration laboratories (PCL) shall be enabled to provide internationally accepted, traceable measurement results themselves. These laboratories should be linked with the NMIs (step 1 and 2) and with the monitoring (routine) laboratories (step 3) by means of comparison measurements. PCLs are experienced laboratories which are already concerned with the organisation of comparison measurements for monitoring laboratories and which are capable to measure the substances considered here. These could be, e.g. laboratories of the regional (national) quality control (QC) systems of the EU countries or PT scheme providers.
The directive defines a priority list of substances. As an example, the inorganic analytes of this list Hg, Pb, Cd and Ni are selected and should be measured in element contents of the environmental quality standards (EQS) which are about 0,05 µg/l for Hg, 7,2 µg/l for Pb, 20 µg/l for Ni and 0,08 µg/l for Cd. The following actions are planned:
Step 1: Comparison measurements of the NMIs and the PCLs in order to link both levels of the dissemination chain.
Step 2: Validation of the measurement procedure of the PCLs supported by the NMIs (e.g. elaboration of complete uncertainty budgets according to GUM).
Step 3: Regional comparison measurements organised by the PCLs (maybe a comparison on a regular basis performed anyway) in order to link the PCLs with the monitoring laboratories. The reference values are provided by the PCLs. NMIs also participate in these comparisons in order to control the success of the validation.
The results of the project will be reported to METCHEM (interim reports Feb 07 and Feb 08, final report Feb 09). They will include a proposal for a collaborative project within the EUROMET iMERA framework.
Final Report 2009-04-07
The comparison has been completed and the result are available in the KCDB.
Part 3 of the final report can be downloaded here >>.
By distributing the final report "Euramet 924 step3" to the participants the project was finished. The "EurametQM.S2 Final report" which also belongs to this project describes comparison measurements performed in the first stage of the project.
This project was aiming at supporting the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. A European network of NMIs and potential calibration laboratories was set up and tested. It served to link the measurement results of testing laboratories all over Europe to national standards in order to assure their comparability which is a requirement of the directive.