About the Laboratory Section

The Divison of Water Quality (DWQ) Laboratory Section is a technical support organization with the following functions:

• Provides analytical laboratory support to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the form of physical, chemical and microbiological analyses of stream, wastewater, groundwater, soil, sediment and fish tissue samples. 
• Operates a wastewater/groundwater laboratory certification program to ensure the quality of state-required monitoring analyses. 
• Provides consultation and assistance to state, federal and local agencies, private laboratories and individuals in matters of analytical methodology and quality assurance. 

The Laboratory Section is comprised of managers, chemists, chemistry technicians and administrative and support personnel. The Section's primary clients are the DWQ Surface Water Protection and Aquifer Protection Sections and the Division of Waste Management's (DWM's) Underground Storage Tank (UST) Section.

The main facility (referred to as the Central Laboratory) is located in Raleigh, NC. Two satellite laboratories are strategically located in the eastern (Washington, NC) and western (Swannanoa, NC) regions of the state to provide assistance with time-sensitive tests. These are referred to as the Washington Regional Office (WARO) Laboratory and the Asheville Regional Office (ARO) Laboratory, respectively.