Tamworth receives NATA accreditation for microbial detection system

The Tamworth Environmental Laboratory, a unit of Tamworth Regional Council, has received NATA accreditation to use technology from Canada’s TECTA-PDS in order to automate its water testing for E. coli and total coliforms.

The TECTA-PDS automated microbial detection system, TECTA B16, is the only US EPA approved automated method for drinking water compliance testing, providing a fast detection time while also being easy to conduct. The portability and complete testing capabilities, including interpretation of results and full reports sent immediately via email, will provide lab-grade quality results instantly for the Tamworth lab — which, being in a regional area, was previously outsourcing its micro samples to an external lab and having to wait several days to receive the results. This caused operational delays for both the lab and its customers.

With the TECTA B16 instrument — supplied through TECTA-PDS’s regional distributor, Thermo Fisher Scientific — Tamworth has been able to shave off a minimum of one day time to result in addition to lowering shipping costs for samples. From an operational perspective, Tamworth has embraced the ease of use and limited training required for a lab technician to run aseptic microbial samples.

“The requirement for timely microbiological analysis for drinking water was identified as a public health issue in our region and TECTA B16 provided the solution with the added benefits over other methodologies of rapid detection and notification,” said James Anderson, Senior Laboratory Technician at the Tamworth Environmental Laboratory.

Tim Adams, EVP at TECTA-PDS, added the result marks “a fantastic step forward in the Australian market” and said his company looks forward to continuing to work closely with the Tamworth laboratory and in Australia.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Klaus Rein