Maintaining a reputation for excellence.
Irene takes pride in upholding EBMUD's reputation for high water quality and protecting the Bay.
“We are the monitors of the water and wastewater system,” she says. “EBMUD has a reputation for high water quality and being environmental stewards, and we help maintain this record through our work.”
This lab operates 365 days a year. Irene’s job is to examine the analyses performed by her team of microbiologists and technicians and verify that testing methods validate the accuracy of results. She reviews drinking water data reported in EBMUD’s annual water quality report.
She also examines tests that ensure that wastewater is properly treated and safe for the environment and human health before it’s released into the San Francisco Bay.
Irene and her team primarily analyze samples taken to comply with drinking water regulations monitoring coliforms and potentially-harmful bacteria such as E.coli. These samples must be tested within 30 hours of sampling, and her team gets to work quickly to provide results.
“There’s a lot of teamwork in the laboratory. We take pride in making sure that at every single step we have a quality control measure in place and these requirements are met.”