Assessment of Test Kits in Terms of Time, Cost and Quality

The aim of the assignment is to introduce students to the quality assurance aspects of a site survey which need to be considered to ensure client expectations are met. It is designed to enable students to gain experience in formulating a problem, sampling, analysing and reporting. In addition they will also compare laboratory analytical methods and on-site test kits, balancing the three factors of time, cost and quality.The assignment is to carry out a water survey of a building, comparing use of on-site test kits with traditional methods for measuring specified analytes in the water.A water quality survey consists of taking a representative number of samples throughout a building and measuring the concentration of an agreed range of analytes to determine whether the levels of analytes measured meet an agreed specification. The cost and time taken to undertake the survey will depend on the purpose of the survey. On-site test kits provide a relatively cheap alternative to traditional sampling and analytical techniques at the expense possibly of quality.The presentation will describe the components of the assignment which will in general be carried out by small teams of students. The various components will include: deciding what analytes to measure in waterdetermining the precision of laboratory analytical methods and test kitsdetermining the bias of laboratory analytical methods and test kitsdesigning a sampling plan suitable for surveying a buildingcreating sample information recordsidentifying the sampling equipment required to carry out the survey.