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GEMS/Water is committed to maintaining a database of consistent and reliable quality. As such, quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) are integral components of all aspects of the monitoring programme. Focal Points are urged to ensure that their monitoring programmes have sampling and analytical QA and QC protocols that are able to assess the quality of their data, and rapidly identify and correct circumstances when data are not of acceptable quality. In addition, each analytical result submitted to GEMS/Water is tested against pre-assigned limits for reasonableness and a series of logical checks are performed to identify gross data translation errors.
The goals and framework of the QA/QC component of GEMS/Water programme are outlined below
Goals:
- Ensure
the comparability and validity of water quality analyses
performed by laboratories around the world
- Encourage a commitment to data integrity, accessibility,
and interoperability
- Facilitate an international information exchange
on methods and other technical references
Framework:
- Analytical methods (pdf) “dictionary”
- Quality manual describing procedures and protocols
- Laboratory performance evaluation studies
- Technical advice, reference samples and training
opportunities
- Laboratory assessments to guide laboratories
in their quality management and analytical proficiency
Global Laboratory Network
- GEMS/Water has created a global network of laboratories that are active in our QA/QC activities. Directory of Laboratories (pdf)
Laboratory Performance Evaluation Studies:
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