Harris County (TX) Pollution Control Services Selects Confience’s Sample Master® LIMS to Optimize Laboratory
Manual entry and paper have been largely eliminated, analysts are spending more time on analysis and the work required for regulatory compliance has been reduced.
For more than 65 years, the Harris County Pollution Control Services (PCS) Department has worked toward ensuring clean air and water for the citizens of Harris County, Texas consistent with the protection of public health, enjoyment of property, and the protection of plant, animal, and marine life. The Laboratory Services Section routinely analyzes the effluents of the approximately 175 industrial and 450 municipal permitted wastewater facilities in Harris County and provides analytical support for the various programs and services within the PCS Department.
The Harris County Pollution Control Services (PCS) Department laboratory is accredited by the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) under the authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and can perform chemical and microbiological analysis on a variety of environmental sample types, such as air, water, soil, and solid waste. These analyses include classical water quality parameters, such as BOD, pH, nutrients, E. coli, etc., and instrumental techniques such as toxic metals and organic pollutants.
The laboratory also provides analytical services and Quality Assurance oversight of the joint Harris County, City of Houston, and the Texas Department of Transportation stormwater permit. Other organizations that use the laboratory's services include Harris County's Environmental Enforcement Division, the Flood Control District, and various municipalities.
Their Challenge
For more than 20 years, the laboratory at the Pollution Control Services Department used an in-house data management solution developed in Microsoft Access. The application (internally named Poll Tracking LIMS or PTL) served as their Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) during this time. The IT department developed updates and enhancements and this process continued over the next 20 years. Although functional, PTL had some significant shortcomings that created issues that affected data quality and lab productivity. These challenges included:
- System was not designed with the capability to create audit trails.
- System did not have the ability to create unique sample IDs.
- System was not able to create or use Electronic Data Deliverables (EDD).
- System did not have an easy reporting solution - dependent on IT to create/modify reports.
- The laboratory had to adapt to a system that was not designed specifically for them.
The lab also faced challenges completing their accreditation process for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The TCEQ is responsible for auditing water and wastewater laboratories in Texas to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP). NELAP requires laboratories to document metrics such as time collected and time analyzed on any reporting of samples with short hold times. Unfortunately, the LIMS used by PCS was not designed to keep track of this data in an automated fashion, creating a challenge for lab staff to manage this data and then add it to the existing reports for NELAP compliance.
Other shortcomings in the LIMS created problems for PCS. There were no QA/QC features such as the ability to graph results and create control charts. As a result, the lab had to create QA/QC templates in Microsoft Excel - not very efficient. These disparate tools generated a significant amount of paper, which regularly caused data quality challenges. And because the lab's instruments were not interfaced to the LIMS, turnaround time on sample testing was noticeably long - something the staff and management wanted to turn around.
Michael Cantu | Laboratory Manager
Harris County Pollution Control Services
Our Solution
In 2016, after more than 20 years of using their in-house developed Poll Tracking LIMS, Harris County Pollution Control Services was finally able to get approval to purchase a commercial off-the-shelf Laboratory Information Management System. For several years, PCS had made this request to management but could not secure budget funding. Finally, in 2016, PCS received funding approval and went through a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
PCS considered several LIMS products before finally selecting Confience’s Sample Master LIMS. The primary reasons for choosing Sample Master included the product's ease of use, configurability, a feature set that is optimal for environmental laboratories, and Confience's long-established reputation for implementation expertise and outstanding customer support. Confience worked together with the PCS laboratory staff to implement Sample Master. The PCS staff consisted of a Laboratory Manager, two Laboratory Supervisors, lab custodian (login specialist), four analysts and a LIMS Administrator - QA/QC Officer.
Once PCS went live with Sample Master, the lab started seeing immediate benefits. With initial on-site training provided by Confience, analysts came up to speed learning how to use Sample Master and making the transition from Poll Tracking LIMS. Once the lab went live with Sample Master, there were several capabilities with the new LIMS that excited both analysts and management. This included the ability to create unique sample ID numbers, defined roles and permission levels within Sample Master, and instrument integration.
Having the LIMS create unique sample IDs solves many potential data management challenges and speeds up the login process. Defining specific roles for lab personnel and then defining what functions or permissions are available for each role was a huge benefit for several reasons including now having a defined approval process (review/validation/approval) that would meet NELAP compliance requirements. Instrument integration with Sample Master has significantly affected the lab's productivity, as manual entry has been eliminated and analysts can spend more time doing sample analysis.
A key motivating factor to getting a new LIMS was using it to reduce the work required to maintain accreditation with TCEQ and NELAP compliance. Sample Master has made a significant difference as PCS uses the approval process and roles/permissions built into the LIMS to improve data quality. Implementing Sample Master has also eliminated a great deal of paper and Excel forms - everything is now in the LIMS. Auditors now come with confidence in data quality, knowing that PCS has a proven LIMS that has been optimized for its laboratory. It should also be mentioned that PCS is taking advantage of the QA/QC function in Sample Master to monitor results and react quickly to potential out-of-compliance scenarios. The lab staff and management at PCS are very pleased with Sample Master and look forward to taking advantage of more of its capabilities.
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