Following the framework agreement with United Utilities, Hach Lange estimates that it now supplies around 90% of the COD tubes used by the UK's major water companies
Hach Lange reports that it has been chosen by United Utilities as its supplier of COD tubes for testing water samples.
The contract takes the form of a two to three year framework agreement, in which Hach Lange expects to supply approximately 100,000 tubes per year.
This, the company believes is the largest COD contract in the UK.
The Hach COD tubes were chosen following an evaluation of tubes from four different suppliers.
Bob Capron, United Utilities's laboratory team leader for wastewater, managed the evaluation, and commented: "The decision was taken on the grounds of accuracy, measurement range, price and quality of service and delivery".
COD stands for chemical oxygen demand.
It is a measure of organic pollution in wastewater, and is the most frequently mentioned parameter in European legislation.
The Hach COD test follows the ISO 15705 standard method exactly, with all reagents supplied ready-to-use, in precisely the correct amounts in a small cuvette.
To perform a test, users simply add a water sample to a cuvette and leave it in a heater for two hours.
At the end of this period the intensity of colour in the solution is directly related to the COD value in the sample, and can be measured quickly and easily. The United Utilities laboratory in Lingley Mere, Warrington, uses four of Hach Lange's highly accurate DR 4000 spectrophotometers to test the cuvettes, and it also runs two of Hach Lange's Ganimede phosphate analysers, so the staff were already familiar with the quality of the Hach Lange products and service.
