Environmental Health Services

The Consolidated  Environmental Laboratory is a partnership between the Health Department and the Water Resources Agency. It is certified by the Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program of the California Department of Public Health. The consolidated laboratory conducts tests on samples derived from the environment for the purpose of assuring safe food, drinking water, reclaimed water, storm water run-off, and irrigation water. These services support the Board of Supervisor's mission to improve the quantity and quality of water supply for the region by: 1) assuring that ground water quality is protected from contaminants such as nitrates; and 2) promoting use of reclaimed water from the Monterey County Water Recycling Projects by assuring its safety for food crop irrigation.

Environmental Laboratory Certification and Fields of Testing

The Monterey County Environmental Laboratory is certified by the Environmental Lab Accreditation Program (ELAP) within the California Department of Public Health’s Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management.

ELAP provides evaluation and accreditation of environmental testing laboratories to ensure the quality of analytical data used for regulatory purposes to meet the requirements of the State's drinking water, wastewater, shellfish, food, and hazardous waste programs. As an ELAP-accredited laboratory, we continually demonstrate capability to analyze environmental samples using approved methods. You can download a copy of our ELAP certificate and our certified Fields of Testing below.

• ELAP certificate
• ELAP Approval & Fields of Testing

Environmental Lab Test Information Sheets

Please find a copy of our current fee schedule below.  If you do not see the test you are interested in please contact the laboratory for prices.  Some tests may be referred to outside laboratories; fees are subject to change without notice.  Special project pricing is available for high volume utilization; please inquire at (831)755-4516.  If you would like to set up an account with our laboratory for routine water testing please fill out a new client information form and bring it into the laboratory with your sample.  Clients that do not have accounts with the laboratory must prepay for testing.  All samples must be submitted with a completed Chain of Custody form as well.

• Chain Of Custody - fill in
• Client Form - English / Spanish
• Environmental Fee Schedule October 2022

Water Sampling Collection Instructions

In order to assure the validity of your water samples results, it is important to follow standard method sample collection instructions.  Below you will find water sampling instructions for the most commonly requested tests.  We provide our clients with all appropriate sample collection containers and we are happy to answer any questions regarding water sampling and analysis. It is highly recommended that after samples are collected they are cooled by refrigeration and/or iced cooler until submitted to the laboratory.

• Arsenic - English / Spanish
• Coliform P-A -English/ Spanish
• Nitrates - English / Spanish
• Title 22 (primary & secondary) - English / Spanish
• Lead & Copper - English / Spanish
• Irrigation Suitability - English / Spanish
• Environmental Swabs for Standard Plate Count - English / Spanish
• Disinfection byproduct (Trihalomethanes & Haloacetic Acids) - English/ Spanish
• Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOC's) - English / Spanish
• Radiological Analysis - English/ Spanish
• Storm Drain - English / Spanish
• Chromium VI - English / Spanish
• Irrigation Water - Generic E coli - English / Spanish
• Legionella Pneumophila - English / Spanish
• Domestic Panel - English / Spanish

Environmental Laboratory Sample Drop Off Locations

The Monterey County Health Department Laboratory is located at 1270 Natividad Road, Salinas, CA 93906. The entrance to the laboratory is located on the back side of the Health Department Building on the lower level.  Our hours are 8:00am – 5:00pm Monday thru Friday. We are open during lunch. Samples should be dropped off at the laboratory as soon as possible after collection. We do offer two additional drop off locations to help serve the Monterey and South County communities. Samples may be dropped off at the following two Health Department Facilities on the same day of collection. 

REMEMBER: SAMPLES SHOULD BE COOLED AFTER COLLECTION UNTIL RECEIVED AT THE LABORATORY(e.g. iced cooler).

Health department offices can provide for cold storage/transportation

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