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    • Labormitarbeiter an einem LC-MS-Analysegeräte
      Water analysis Conducting and evaluating physical-chemical and microbiological water testing in accordance with German Drinking Water Ordinance and other regulations.
    • Test centre and product testing
      Testing of products and devices Initial testing of products and materials in contact with drinking water. The test centre is accredited for more than 200 product standards.
    • Two employees in front of a test facility
      Treatment technologies Develop sustainable water supply concepts. Implement, monitor and optimise new technologies. Test and further develop existing treatment methods.
    • Employee next to a bio-analyser
      Micropollutants and microorganisms Development and improvement of determination procedures. Investigating occurrence, behaviour and fate of inorganic and organic trace substances.
    • Flushing the drinking water network, starting from a car
      Network management and drinking water installation Advice on safeguarding the quality of drinking water in the distribution system, support in the development of specific network management strategies.
    • Well for drinking water production
      Risk management Supporting water supply companies in setting up continuous risk management for water supply facilities, based on our comprehensive expertise.
    • Employees in front of screens with graphics
      Drinking water catchments and resources Protection of drinking water resources by assessing potential hazards in water catchment areas, catalogues of measures, monitoring concepts, databases.
    • Employee at test columns
      Environmental biotechnology and contaminated sites Environmental biotechnology to improve water quality. Degradation processes for water purification. Concepts and studies for pollutant contamination.
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      Digitalisation Solving complex questions and problems of water supply companies in digitalisation through technical support or practical research projects.
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      Practical projects Research and practice, water supply, scientific and technical expertise, technology concepts, resource protection, distribution network, digitalisation.
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      Resource protection Sustainable resource protection as an important factor for safe drinking water supply, management of hazards and risks in water catchment areas.
    • Employee works on test columns
      Environmental biotechnology Technical and biological methods for the elimination of microorganisms, microbiological degradation processes, risk assessment of microbial contamination.
    • Sample is placed in a bioanalyser
      Microorganisms Application and development of reliable detection methods for microorganisms in drinking water, evaluation of disinfection and treatment measures.
    •  Employee works on analytical column and liquid chromatograph
      Micropollutants Reliable and sensitive determination of trace substances and microplastics, investigation of the behaviour in the water cycle, qualified risk assessment.
    • Employee fills samples on test columns filled with sand
      Waste water and water cycle Development of integrated water supply and waste water disposal concepts, Utilisation of biodegradation processes to eliminate persistent substances.
    • Employee in front of a computer using a colony counter
      New technologies and products Technologies and products for the treatment, disinfection and post-treatment of drinking water, testing for performance, safety and robustness.
    •  Two employees at a test stand for water distribution
      Asset management and infrastructure Development of asset management strategies to ensure a stable supply of high-quality drinking water, assessment of the condition of pipeline networks.
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      Digitalisation and Management Digitalisation in the areas of data collection, data management, data-driven applications and AI for the water supply.
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An institution of DVGW
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  • Water analysis

Chemical and microbiological analysis

With utmost precision and reliability, we perform physical-chemical and microbiological analyses for our customers in accordance with legal regulations such as the German Drinking Water Ordinance or the Water Framework Directive. We are accredited according to DIN EN ISO 17025 for the analysis of drinking water, source water, groundwater and surface water. In addition, we offer the quantitative determination of inorganic and organic micropollutants using modern and high-performance analytical methods of and instruments in the most diverse matrices (drinking water, groundwater, surface water, waste water, sewage sludge, soil, suspended matter, and sediments). A key element is the continuous development and improvement of methods for trace analysis of both water and solid samples.

Microbiological detection methods range from the specific detection of indicator organisms or pathogens to the enrichment of large volumes of water to improve the sensitivity of the detection methods to the analysis of microbial substances such as AOC (assimilable organic carbon). Additionally, we use the latest molecular biological methods to quickly identify the species or microorganisms and to determine antibiotic resistance genes.

 

What do we offer?

Among others, we have analytical methods for the determination of representatives of the following substance groups:

  • Trace elements and metals
  • Bromide, bromate, chlorite, chlorate, iodide, iodate and perchlorate
  • Species of arsenic, chromium and selenium
  • Pesticides and metabolites (more than 100 single substances including glyphosate, AMPA, N,N-dimethyl sulphamide, desphenyl chloridazon, and other pesticides metabolites)
  • Halogenated acetic acids
  • Microcystins
  • Aromatic sulfonates
  • Chelating agents
  • Pharmaceutical residues (more than 100 single substances)
  • Iodinated X-ray contrast agent/s
  • Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (steroidal hormones, alkyl phenols)
  • Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, more than 50 single substances including TFA, GenX, and ADONA))
  • Aliphatic amines
  • Nitrosamines
  • Biocides
  • Benzotriazoles
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Chlorinated and brominated flame retardants
  • Organophosphonic acids
  • Nitrification inhibitors
  • Surrogate parameters (DOC, TOC, AOX, AOS, AOF, EOF, TOP-assay)

We offer the following range of microbiological detection methods:

  • Detection of indicator bacteria according to the German Drinking Water Ordinance: E. coli / coliform bacteria, Enterococci, Clostridium perfringens, colony counts 22 °C, 36 °C
  • Detection of pathogens: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Legionella, aeromonads, thermotolerant Campylobacter spp., testing for Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia, testing for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, detection of multiresistances using agar diffusion tests
  • Detection of bacteriophages: F-specific RNA bacteriophages, somatic coliphages
  • Enrichment methods: To rapidly enrich large volumes of water, TZW has developed practical enrichment methods that enable us to concentrate water volumes of 100 litres and more. Using this methodology, the detection sensitivity for subsequent microbiological analysis (e.g. for the indicator organisms E. coli, coliform bacteria and enterococci) can be increased by a factor of 1000. This enables distribution networks to be investigated systematically for possible contamination sources of microbiological pollutants.
  • Assimilable organic carbon (AOC) / regrowth potential: Regrowth potential, determination of AOC increase by means of chlorination, determination of AOC following various treatment stages
  • Special methods to evaluate the microbiological water quality: Determination of the total cell count (microscopic, flow cytometry), microscopic analysis of floating layers, sediments, coatings, plant cover and biofilms, problem-oriented investigations into specific bacteria groups (e.g. iron and manganese oxidisers, Crenothrix polyspora), biomass determination (e.g. ATP, protein), microbial count (colony counts and Most-Probable-Number (MPN) method): Colony counts for various media, nitrate/iron(III)/sulphate-reducing bacteria, pollutant-degrading bacteria
  • Animal organisms (invertebrates): Advice on the presence of animal organisms in water supply systems, identification and quantification of animal organisms
Information and Links

Accreditation certificate
Annex Accreditation certificate
List of accredited procedures from the flexible areas of application
Flyer – services relating to organic micropollutants (in German)
Flyer PFAS in der Umwelt. Anforderungen und Lösungen (in German)

Methods and equipment

3 ICP-MS

1 Hg analyser

4 IC-LFD

1 GC-FID

1 GC-ECD-ECD

15 GC-MS

4 GC-MS-MS

1 HPLC-DAD-FLD

14 HPLC-MS-MS

2 HPLC-TOF-MS

1 HPLC-Orbitrap-MS

2 Raman microspectrometers

Safety workbenches

Incubator

Flow cytometer with sorter

Fluorescence microscope

Ultra-filtration module for enrichment of large sample volumes

Autoclaves

Sterilisers

ATP measuring device

Freeze-drying

Ultra-low freezer

Contact

Chemical analysis

Dr. Frank Sacher +49 721 9678-120 Send email
Dipl.-Geoökol. Astrid Thoma +49 721 9678-156 Send email
M.Sc. Veronika Reif +49 721 9678-259 Send email

Microbiology

Dr. Beate Hambsch +49 721 9678-220 Send email
 
Dr. Michael Hügler +49 721 9678-222 Send email
 

Projects

Source of the high-resolution mass spectrometer (Orbitrap Exploris 120)
23.05.2024
Halogenated disinfection by-products (haDes)

Involving the collaboration of affected water suppliers, analytical and technical conditions are being created to investigate the fate and…

Read more

The Hasselbach was one of the few unpolluted water bodies in this study
01.08.2022
Persistent and mobile micropollutants in surface waters of lower saxony

Comprehensive monitoring data for many so-called PMT/vPvM-substances is still scarce. A large-scale surface water monitoring program in Lower Saxony…

Read more

European beech leaf (Image: Wikipedia)
26.01.2022
Long term trends for Trifluoracetic acid in terrestrial environmental samples

Emissions of TFA and its precursors have been increasing for years - we also see this trend in plant samples from the German Environmental Specimen…

Read more

More projects

Solutions
  • Water analysis
  • Testing of products and devices
  • Treatment technologies
  • Micropollutants and microorganisms
  • Network management and drinking water installation
  • Risk management
  • Drinking water catchments and resources
  • Environmental biotechnology and contaminated sites
  • Digitalisation
  • Practical projects
Research
  • Resource protection
  • Environmental biotechnology
  • Microorganisms
  • Micropollutants
  • Waste water and water cycle
  • New technologies and products
  • Asset management and infrastructure
  • Digitalisation and Management
About TZW
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  • Organisation
  • Team
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Projects
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Information
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  • Annual report 2024
  • Videos
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