Armenian Water Laboratory accredited
Umweltbundesamt provides expert guidance for the creation of a laboratory with European standards
In the past years the laboratory underwent substantial changes in terms of analytical procedures and infrastructure and is now officially accredited under ISO/IEC 17025. The international accreditation, issued by the National Accreditation Body of Armenia (ARMNAB) for a period of four years, represents a crucial step for Armenia to ensure the preservation of water resources. It is another step towards the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.
The laboratory of the Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Centre under the Armenian Ministry of Environment recently received ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, issued by the National Accreditation Body of Armenia (ARMNAB), which is now valid for four years.
Our expert guidance helps EU Eastern Partner countries, such as the Republic of Armenia, to develop their water management for the EU Candidate status.
The accreditation covers a wide range of inorganic parameters for monitoring surface and groundwater, including mineral water, industrial wastewater, treated and untreated running water, as well as atmospheric precipitation of metals and other elements. Certified analyses can be provided also for sulphates, nitrates, chlorides, fluorides, bromides, ammonium, nitrites, phosphate ions, electrical conductivity, pH and many other indicators.
The laboratory underwent major refurbishment of its infrastructure between 2018 and 2019 and was upgraded thanks to substantial support from the European Union over more than seven years. This support was provided through the EUWI+ (2016-2021) and EU4Water&Data (2022-2024) projects, under the continued expert guidance of the Environment Agency Austria. The Armenian Deputy Director, Ms. Gayane Shahnazaryan, underlined the crucial role of this international cooperation in achieving this high level of performance.
Over the past two years, the EU support focus has been on training in the analysis of EU priority substances, including groups of organic parameters such as pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic carbons (VOCs) and phthalates. This training aims to prepare the laboratories of the Hydrometeorology Centre as well as those of Kyiv-Vyshgorod, Chisinau, Tbilisi and Baku for the next phase of accreditation and for full compliance with the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
About EU4Environment – Water Resources and Environmental Data
As part of the EU4environment umbrella program, EU4Environment – Water Resources and Environmental Data supports a more sustainable use of water resources and improves the use of sound environmental data and their availability for policy-makers and citizen. The EU-funded program was launched in 2021 in five EU Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and works until 2024 in synergies with other EU-funded programs in the region (e.g. EU4Environment – Green Economy). Implementing partners are EAA, International Office for Water/France, OECD, UNECE and ADA.
Links:
Launch of the program EU4Environment - Water Resources and Environmental Data
