It’s all in a day’s work for Noluvuko Ngalonkulu who has been heading up the Amatola Water science lab in Nahoon Dam for the last five years.

Heading up a team of 14 professionals – eight of which are women – Noluvuko and her team have the task of ensuring that Amatola Water treatment works meet national water quality standards.

Noluvuko and her team have successfully achieved this task if one considers that Amatola Water has consistently achieved an average 99% water quality compliance levels for the last five years. The average national average for water quality compliance is 96%.

Noluvuko, a Bachelor of Science Honours graduate in Biochemistry, has been managing the lab for five years and has consistently ensured that the lab maintains its ISO 17025 accreditation for general and technical requirements of testing laboratories.

A sign of the labs success is its ability to continuously improve its revenue as a result of external work being done for municipalities. This also means the lab is now handling more work than it usually does.

“The growth in revenues and in the volume of external work we now handle is a sign of the confidence that our customers have in the utility. The team handles samples from the utility’s 10 water treatment plants.

“The scientific services team has the task of analysing water according to national SANS 241 standards from our treatment works and reservoirs. These tests determine whether water quality is being,” says Noluvuko.

Noluvuko says Amatola Water has two labs in Nahoon Dam – a microbiology lab which tests the effectiveness of water treatment processes and a chemistry lab.