Lab Services Division

The Laboratory Services Division is at 300 East 5th Street near Bandshell Park. Lab staff includes a Lab Aide, two Lab Technicians, two Lab Analysts, and a Lab Supervisor.

City of Ames Laboratory Services is a state-certified lab serving the drinking water and the wastewater plants for the City of Ames. The lab provides testing required by the permits for the two facilities. The lab also does extra testing to help the treatment processes run smoothly.

In partnership with Prairie Rivers of Iowa, the lab samples and tests urban streams and Story County watersheds. On a regular basis, lab staff also collect and analyze samples for the Industrial Pretreatment Program. This program monitors the wastewater sent to the city’s sewer system by industries in Ames. The lab tests samples from the Public Works department when they disinfect a new water main or when a water main loses pressure after a main break.

Each year, the lab analyzes more than 3,000 samples and generates about 10,000 to 11,000 individual test results. Most of that testing uses “wet chemistry,” but the lab also includes microbiological and atomic absorption equipment.