adirondackenvironmental.com

What is Adirondack Environmental Services, Inc.?

Adirondack Environmental Services, Inc. is an environmental laboratory and field-services company based in Albany, New York. It tests water, soil, air, and materials, and also sends staff to collect samples on site. The lab holds New York State Department of Health ELAP accreditation (Lab ID 10709) and the company is a New York State certified Women's Business Enterprise (WBE).

What it does

• Water and wastewater: drinking water, well water, groundwater and landfill monitoring, plus wastewater analysis for VOCs, SVOCs, PCBs, TSS, BOD, and metals.
• Compliance support: SPDES permit sampling, industrial use permits, stormwater/runoff, and DMR compliance testing.
• Field services: sample collection, wastewater compositor installation and setup, and industrial hygiene sampling.
• Air and industrial hygiene: indoor air quality (IAQ), ambient air monitoring, mold sampling and abatement plan development, employee exposure monitoring, asbestos analysis by PLM, TEM, and PCM.
• Materials and waste: material/product testing, failure analysis, specification conformance, unknown material identification, waste characterization, and hazardous material disposal analysis.
• Training: support for EH&S and OSHA compliance.

Who it suits

Facilities with discharge permits, municipal water and wastewater operators, landfills, construction and engineering firms, and property managers dealing with asbestos, mold, or indoor air complaints. The combination of field collection and accredited lab analysis is convenient if you would rather not manage a separate sampling contractor and lab.

How to decide

If your need is a one-off drinking-water test, the "Test My Water" option is the simplest entry point. If you have an ongoing permit with sampling schedules, ask about compositor installation and field collection so the sampling chain stays with one vendor. For workplace exposure or asbestos questions, confirm that the specific method you need falls within their accreditation before scheduling. To start, call the office or use the "Test My Water" link on Adirondack Environmental Services, Inc. and describe your site and the regulation you are trying to satisfy.

How do I get my well water tested for contaminants like coliform, E. coli, or metals?

Start by calling a certified lab and asking for a well water test panel that covers coliform, E. coli, and metals. In New York, Adirondack Environmental Services lists well water testing alongside drinking water analysis for Legionella, coliform and E. coli, and metals, with field sample collection available. That means you can either collect the sample yourself if the lab provides a kit and instructions, or have a technician come out.

The practical steps:

1. Call or request a test through the lab's "Test My Water" or drinking water service line. Ask which contaminants are included and whether the lab is certified for drinking water testing in your state.
2. Get the sampling kit and follow the instructions exactly. For coliform and E. coli, the bottle usually contains a preservative and must be kept cool and returned within a set time. For metals, use the bottle provided and avoid touching the inside of the cap or letting the sample sit.
3. Choose the right sampling point. Use a faucet after any treatment system if you want to know what you are actually drinking; use a raw tap before treatment if you want to know the well itself. Ask the lab which they recommend for your goal.
4. Return or ship the sample promptly. Delays can invalidate bacteriological results.
5. Review the report with the lab. If coliform is present, ask whether it is total coliform or E. coli, since E. coli indicates fecal contamination and calls for immediate action such as boiling or treatment while you investigate.

A useful decision criterion: test annually for bacteria and every few years for metals and other chemistry, or sooner if you notice changes in taste, odor, color, or if a nearby land use changes.

For official guidance on private wells, see CDC Private Wells or your state health department. For a New York lab option, Adirondack Environmental Services provides well water testing and field collection. If you want a broader comparison, EPA Private Wells explains what to test for and when.

What does the SPDES permit sampling and DMR compliance process involve for wastewater discharge?

SPDES permit sampling and DMR compliance is a recurring cycle: collect representative wastewater samples under a permit-defined schedule, have them analyzed by a certified laboratory, then report the results to the state on a Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) by the deadline. The permit sets what to monitor (parameters such as BOD, TSS, metals, VOCs, PCBs), where (outfall or influent/effluent points), how often, and what limits apply.

Typical steps

• Review the permit for parameters, limits, sampling frequency and reporting periods.
• Collect samples correctly — grab or composite, depending on the requirement — often with automated compositors for flow-proportional sampling.
• Preserve, chain-of-custody and deliver samples to an accredited lab.
• Analyze with approved methods and detection limits below permit limits.
• Compare results to limits, flag exceedances, and calculate averages or loadings as required.
• Complete and submit the DMR, keeping records for the retention period.

Where this fits Adirondack Environmental Services, Inc describes itself as an ELAP-approved laboratory serving Albany, New York, offering wastewater sampling, compositor installation, SPDES sampling, stormwater/runoff compliance and DMR compliance testing — so it is positioned as a single provider for both field collection and analysis. That matters because splitting collection and lab work across vendors can complicate chain-of-custody and exceedance investigations.

For a plant operator or environmental manager, the practical decision is whether to keep sampling in-house and outsource only analysis, or hand off the full cycle. Full-service is easier to audit; in-house collection can be cheaper if staff are trained and compositors are already installed. Either way, confirm the lab's certification covers each parameter and that reporting deadlines are built into the schedule, not handled after results arrive.

When should I arrange industrial hygiene services such as employee exposure monitoring or indoor air quality testing?

Arrange industrial hygiene services whenever a workplace condition could expose people to contaminants, or when you need documented evidence that exposure is under control. Typical triggers include:

• A known or suspected hazard appears — new chemicals, dusty processes, welding fumes, solvents, mold, asbestos disturbance, or complaints of odors and poor air quality.
• People report symptoms — headaches, respiratory irritation, fatigue, or eye/throat discomfort that cluster in a specific area or shift.
• Before and after a change — renovation, new equipment, process changes, or relocation, so you have baseline and follow-up data.
• To satisfy a requirement — OSHA compliance, an insurer, a lease condition, or a client audit asking for exposure records.
• Periodically, even with no complaint — routine surveillance for high-risk tasks confirms controls still work.

Adirondack Environmental Services lists industrial hygiene among its services, including on-site evaluation, indoor air quality (IAQ), ambient air monitoring, mold sampling, asbestos/lead project compliance and analysis, employee exposure monitoring, and EH&S/OSHA compliance training and support. It operates as a NYS DOH ELAP laboratory (Lab ID 10709) and a NYS Certified WBE, covering sample collection and analysis for water, soil, air, and materials.

Choosing between IAQ testing and exposure monitoring

A practical next step

Write down the concern, the location, the people affected, and any deadlines (an inspection, a lease renewal, a worker complaint). That summary lets a lab scope the right sampling — air, surface, bulk material, or personal breathing-zone — rather than testing broadly and paying for data you cannot use.

For a workplace with both comfort complaints and chemical handling, start with a walkthrough and IAQ screen; if a specific agent is identified, follow with personal exposure monitoring. For regulatory or permit-driven needs — SPDES, stormwater, DMR, or industrial use permits — confirm the required method and reporting format before sampling begins, since compliance samples often must follow prescribed protocols. Adirondack's page notes field sample collection, wastewater compositor installation, and compliance testing as part of its offering, which suits facilities that would rather have one provider handle collection and analysis.

If you are unsure whether your case calls for IAQ testing or exposure monitoring, OSHA publishes guidance on when exposure monitoring is expected, and your state health or environmental agency can clarify permit-specific testing.

How can I identify an unknown material, such as asbestos or lead, in my building for renovation or disposal?

For renovation or disposal, the usual path is: identify what the material is, confirm whether it contains a regulated contaminant such as asbestos or lead, then use that result to choose the right handling, disposal and worker-protection route. Adirondack Environmental Services is an Albany, New York environmental laboratory that performs material and product testing alongside asbestos analysis (PLM, TEM and PCM) and industrial hygiene services, so it is set up for exactly this kind of question.

What identification actually involves

• Asbestos in building materials: bulk samples of suspect material (floor tile, insulation, joint compound, ceiling texture) are examined by polarized light microscopy (PLM); air or dust samples may use PCM or TEM.
• Lead: typically paint chip, dust wipe or soil samples analyzed for lead content, often tied to renovation, repair and painting rules.
• Unknown or mixed material: waste characterization and hazardous material disposal analysis determine what the substance is and how it must be handled or disposed of.
• Air and exposure questions: industrial hygiene sampling and employee exposure monitoring assess whether occupants or workers are being exposed.

A practical sequence

1. Do not disturb the material first. Breaking or sanding it can spread fibers or dust and complicate sampling.
2. List every suspect material by location and approximate age of the building.
3. Arrange sample collection — either your own contractor or the lab's field services; Adirondack offers field sample collection and sample compositor installation.
4. Get laboratory results in writing with the method used, so contractors, disposal facilities and regulators can act on them.
5. Match the result to the rule that applies — SPDES, stormwater, industrial use permits or DMR compliance if the project touches wastewater or runoff.

Choosing a lab

Adirondack notes NYS DOH ELAP approval (Lab ID 10709) and NYS Certified WBE status, which matters if you need an accredited, state-recognized result or have diversity spending requirements. For a small home renovation, a single bulk asbestos sample and a lead paint test may be enough; for a commercial demolition or landfill project, expect a broader sampling plan covering soil, sludge, waste streams and air.

Next step: call the lab with the building's age, the materials you suspect, and your end use (renovation, disposal, or occupant complaint), and ask which sample types and methods they recommend before anything is disturbed. Related official resources include US EPA for asbestos and lead rules and OSHA for workplace exposure limits.

What is involved in setting up a wastewater compositor for stormwater or runoff monitoring?

Setting up a wastewater compositor for stormwater or runoff monitoring involves three connected pieces of work: deciding where and how to collect a representative sample, installing and programming the equipment, and building a chain of custody that stands up to a permit review.

Site and sampling design

• Identify the discharge point or outfall that the permit or monitoring plan names, and confirm the flow conditions there — gravity pipe, channel, manhole, or pump discharge.
• Decide between flow-proportional and time-proportional compositing. Flow-proportional sampling is generally preferred where runoff volume varies sharply, because it weights the sample to the water actually discharged.
• Plan for the first flush. Stormwater monitoring often needs the initial runoff captured, so triggering and pacing matter more than total volume.
• Check access, power, and freeze protection. A compositor in an unheated manhole or exposed pad needs a realistic plan for winter and for safe servicing.

Installation and setup

• Mount the unit on a stable base or bracket, with the intake strainer positioned to avoid sediment blockage and air entrainment.
• Set intake line length and lift so the sampler can move the required volume within its cycle time.
• Configure the program: sample volume per aliquot, number of aliquots, interval or flow-paced trigger, purge and rinse cycles, and bottle switching.
• Calibrate the flow meter or level sensor against the actual structure, then verify with a test run before the first compliance event.
• Label bottles, preservatives, and hold times in advance so field staff do not improvise during a storm.

Compliance and documentation

• Keep the sampling plan, calibration records, and field logs together; these are what reviewers ask for.
• Match analysis to the permit — for stormwater and runoff that typically means TSS, metals, oil and grease, and sometimes BOD, VOCs, or SVOCs.
• Use a certified laboratory for the analysis and confirm it is accredited for the methods on your permit.

Adirondack Environmental Services, Inc. lists wastewater compositor installation and setup alongside SPDES sampling, stormwater/runoff compliance, and DMR compliance testing, and holds NYS DOH ELAP laboratory accreditation (Lab ID 10709) and NYS Certified WBE status. That combination matters if you want one vendor responsible for both the field installation and the resulting analytical data. See Adirondack Environmental Services, Inc.

A practical next step: before buying or renting a unit, write a one-page sampling plan stating the outfall, the trigger, the pacing method, the aliquot volume, the bottle configuration, and the analyte list. Send that plan to your lab and your equipment supplier together — mismatches between the plan and the sampler program are the most common reason a stormwater event is sampled but unusable.