About ELS
ELS is an IANZ, LAS and Ministry of Health approved testing laboratory based in Lower Hutt, New Zealand . We offer a broad range of microbiological and inorganic chemistry analyses, covering a large range of sample matrices.
We can trace our origins back to the 1920's, under the ownership of Wellington and Hutt city councils, and have been an independent analytical laboratory since 1995. Private ownership has seen ELS lead the country's analytical sector, offering services for a wide range of sample matrices.
Our four separate laboratories are housed on our ground floor area of 700 square metres and contain the personnel and equipment for all our analytical services. The environment of these laboratories is carefully treated to ensure that any airborne contamination is kept outside. Our instrument laboratory houses a new environmental filtration and air conditioning system that allows the sensitive equipment inside to operate to part per billion levels.
The first floor area comprises 450 square metres of open plan air-conditioned office space as well as 300 square metres of storage area. The office looks out over the picturesque Wellington harbour and has water views on two sides.
While most of our clients are corporate we also offer the best testing service for homeowners interested in their pool and drinking water quality.
Central Services
Central Services is a busy and dedicated team, striving for excellence and client satisfaction. They have been given the role of overall sample management and they also find time to:
This section is comprised of many specialised instruments that together form the automated inorganic chemistry aspect of our work. This laboratory includes some of the most complex analytical techniques available including:
ICP-MS
This is the best that is currently available for quantifying metals. While very expensive, ELS is fortunate to own and operate two of these instruments. Both are capable of performing very low level determinations of metals such as Cadmium, Chromium, Arsenic, Lead and even Tungsten and Uranium.
ICP-OES
This technique also analyses metals, and is better at some elements than our ICP-MS's. The alkali metals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium perform better on this instrument.
Ion Chromatography
ELS operates two Ion Chromatographs for the determination of anions in water and air. Anions include fluoride, chloride, bromide, nitrate, and sulphate and are good water quality indicators. The instruments can also analyse oxyhalides such as bromate and chlorite. We also analyse nitrate and sulphate species in air samples taken from around New Zealands ' cities.
Flow Injection Autoanalyser
Nutrient analysis forms a large part of our business and we achieve this through the use of modern Flow Injection Autoanalysers. These instruments perform nitrogen and phosphorus analyses and are also used to determine cyanide, and hexavalent chromium.
Total Organic Carbon
Another recent acquisition, this instrument is used solely to determine total and dissolved carbon species in environmental and process waters.
General Chemistry Laboratory
This section of our laboratory specialises in a large number of tests based on the chemistry methods published in volumes such as APHA and AOAC. We also offer tests of specialised matrices that are not accredited.
This section is essentially the original ELS before we branched out into microbiological and instrumental techniques. Most laboratories in New Zealand have a general chemistry capability because most samples require this type of test.
Examples of the tests performed include pH, alkalinity, turbidity, TKN, COD, and other tests that we often refer to collectively as 'shorts'.
In 1995 ELS microbiology capability served only a few food clients, now it has expanded to become a very large component of our business in terms of the number of analyses performed.
The laboratory now serves many export meat premises, domestic food companies, dairy premises as well as many water clients from around New Zealand . We operate a pathogen laboratory where Class 2 organisms are analysed.
The biofluid laboratory principally serves the Occupational Health industry for New Zealand . We analyse blood, serum, and urine for a wide range of metals and fluoride to check workers health.