Suburban Laboratories, a Metiri Group company, is UCMR5 approved by USEPA for analysis of PFAS by methods 533 and 537 and Lithium by 200.7 .  For more information contact Deb Griffiths at (630) 686-4856 or email dgriffiths@suburbanlabs.com.

Effective Friday June 4, 2021 our Mukwonago and Sheboygan laboratories have been consolidated into a new, first-rate laboratory facility.  Our new address is:

10520 N. Baehr Rd., Ste J, Mequon, WI 53092

To continue to offer optimal convenience to clients who drop off their samples, we will maintain sample drop centers at the following locations:

1. The UPS Store:  3120 S. Business Dr. Sheboygan, WI
2. Print Pack and Ship:  315 Bayview Rd, Mukwonago, WI

When dropping off samples at on of our drop centers, please be aware of the following:

• Drop center hours are 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Monday through Friday. Suburban’s courier will only pick up samples at Noon on business days. Samples delivered after Noon, will be picked up at Noon on the next regularly scheduled pick-up day.  Please keep holding times in mind when dropping off samples.
• All samples must be delivered with the proper chain of custody paperwork/lab slips and labeling.
• Samples that are required to be on ice must be placed in a cooler on ice and paperwork placed in a ziplock bag inside the cooler. Reusable coolers will be returned to their owners. To ensure your cooler is returned, you must write your name and address on the cooler in permanent marker.
• Samples that do not require ice must be placed in a box or cooler along with paperwork.
• We recommend contacting your Suburban Account Manager to order bottles, coolers, and supplies in advance. If you have requested sample bottles in advance, we will ship them to you or deliver them to the UPS store for you to pick up.
• Please note, the drop center staff will not provide boxes, ice or coolers and are simply there to receive and deliver your packages.

To request sample bottles, chain of custody forms, labels, coolers or if you have any questions, please contact your Account Manager or call (920) 459-2500.

First and foremost, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our employees and customers. Suburban Laboratories remains open to serve you and we are taking the following actions to protect us all:

Pick-up and drop off samples

• Our courier and field service remain open; however we ask that human interaction and social distancing be maintained

Remote work

• Sales, managerial and most office/project management staff are working remotely

Practice staff partitioning

• Staff hours are being staggered to minimize overall number of people in the facility
• Communal lunch and breaks are to be avoided and no more the 5 people may be in one room at the same time

Restrict meetings and social gatherings

• All business sponsored social gatherings are suspended
• Video and voice conferencing shall replace face to face meetings
• Employees should limit physical meetings with external parties

Cleaning and disinfection

• Staff will clean between shifts and not permit cross-contact between incoming and outgoing shifts
• Hand sanitizer, spray disinfectant and disinfectant wipes are available throughout the facility and in all vehicles
• Sterile gloves are to be used whenever possible. Gloves are available throughout the facility

Travel is restricted

• No regional travel without President approval (vehicle travel does count as travel)
• Sales staff to cease face-to-face sales calls – calls to happen remotely
• All employees to follow travel advisories from global and regional health authorities

All respiratory illness shall be reported immediately to management

• Individuals who are feel sick or have a respiratory illness are required to stay home and seek medical attention if necessary
• If an individual becomes sick while at work, the employee will be sent home and all areas the employee interacted will be disinfected following CDC guidance
• Employees testing positive for COVID-19 or who have come in direct contact with someone testing positive are required to notify management immediately.

Suburban Laboratories is your one stop shop for drinking water testing. We have been servicing the greater Chicago land area since 1936. Over those 70 plus years, we can proudly say we know a thing or two about water testing. In the last 10 years, lead in water has been a rising issue across the country since homes built before 1986 had lead piping installed.

What is Lead?

Lead is a toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around homes. Even at low levels, lead may cause a range of health effects including behavioral problems and learning disabilities. Children six years old and under are most at risk because this is when the brain is developing. The primary source of lead exposure for most children is lead-based paint in older homes. Lead in drinking water can add to that exposure. Lead is sometimes used in household plumbing materials or in water service lines used to bring water from the main to the home. A prohibition on lead in plumbing materials has been in effect since 1986. Click the link to check out a Lead Testing Kit today.

What are Lead’s Health Effects?

Infants and children who drink water containing lead in excess of the action level could experience delays in their physical or mental development. Children could show slight deficits in attention span and learning abilities. Adults who drink this water over many years could develop kidney problems or high blood pressure.

How Does Lead get into my Drinking Water?

The major sources of lead in drinking water are corrosion of household plumbing systems; and erosion of natural deposits. Lead enters the water (“leaches”) through contact with the plumbing. Lead leaches into water through corrosion – a dissolving or wearing away of metal caused by a chemical reaction between water and your plumbing. Lead can leach into water from pipes, solder, fixtures and faucets (brass), and fittings. The amount of lead in your water also depends on the types and amounts of minerals in the water, how long the water stays in the pipes, the amount of wear in the pipes, the water’s acidity and its temperature.

Although the main sources of exposure to lead are ingesting paint chips and inhaling dust, EPA estimates that 10 to 20 percent of human exposure to lead may come from lead in drinking water. Infants who consume mostly mixed formula can receive 40 to 60 percent of their exposure to lead from drinking water. Think it is time to test your water for lead? Click the link to check out a Lead Testing Kit today.

What can you do?

If you want to take the next steps in making sure your home is lead free, check out our lead testing kit in the link provided. Also, feel free to contact Suburban Laboratories or send us a message on our Social Media Pages. Suburban Laboratories, protecting human health and the environment since 1936.

Why test for lead?

Lead is a toxic metal that was used in plumbing materials and water service lines. Even at low levels, lead may cause a range of health effects including behavioral problems and learning disabilities, especially in young children.  The Illinois EPA recommends day care centers built before January 1, 2000 test their water for lead

How many samples do I need to take?

Two (2) samples should be collected from each water source that can potentially be used for drinking and/or food preparation. This includes drinking fountain, sink, and fridge. Water sampling must be conducted first thing in the morning after the water has been stagnate for a minimum of 6 hours but no more than 18 hours. Take care to ensure the water is not used for any purpose including flushing toilets, showers, etc… A first draw sample is collected when first turning on the tap and a second after the water has run for 30 seconds. With your order, Suburban Laboratories will provide you with sampling instructions, gloves, and containers to collect the samples.

If you have an refrigerator with an ice dispenser you will also need to order an additional kit for ice samples here: Lead in Ice Sample Kit.

What can I do?

If you want to take the next steps in making sure your home is lead free, check out our lead testing kit in the link provided Lead in Day Cares. Also, feel free to contact Suburban Laboratories or send us a message on our Social Media Pages. Suburban Laboratories, protecting human health and the environment since 1936.

Testing Your Drinking Water

As the new year begins, and the seasons take full effect, you can’t help but wonder “how the environment is affecting your home?” Specifically, the piping your drinking water runs through. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), if you are using a private water supply (Well Water) for your drinking water you should, “Test water every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH levels, especially if you have a new well, or have replaced or repaired pipes, pumps or the well casing” (EPA Home Water Testing).

If you are on a public water supply (Potable Water) you probably have received a letter or email from the community where you live in. This letter is a called a Consumer Confidence Report and lets you know about your local drinking water quality. This report provides information about possible contaminants found in drinking water, potential health effects, as well as the drinking water source.

Speaking about contaminants in drinking water, contamination can come from a variety of locations and events. Some of the more common sources of contamination found in drinking water come from runoffs from fertilizer use such as herbicides, discharge from industrial factories and chemical factories, erosion from natural deposits, corrosion from household plumbing, and discharge from mills and refineries.

For homeowners, we understand that testing your drinking water is not always top priority, but here are two situations where it would be crucial to test your drinking water. One situation would be of your house was built before 1986. This date is important because up to 1986, contractors were installing lead pipes in homes. Over the years, the lead piping has started to erode and leach out into the drinking water.

The Second situation when you should test your home drinking water is if you have infants and children six years or younger. Infants and children who drink water containing lead in excess of the action level could experience delays in their physical or mental development. Children could show slight deficits in attention span and learning abilities. Adults who drink this water over many years could develop kidney problems or high blood pressure.

Although the main sources of exposure to lead are ingesting paint chips and inhaling dust, EPA estimates that 10 to 20 percent of human exposure to lead may come from lead in drinking water. Infants who consume mostly mixed formula can receive 40 to 60 percent of their exposure to lead from drinking water. Do not wait, Suburban Laboratories offers a testing kit for lead. Click the link to see how we can help (Lead in Homes).

Suburban Laboratories is here to help. With being in business since 1936, we have developed testing kits and packages based on the contaminants most commonly found in drinking water. We have also come up with some frequently asked questions that may be helpful in your search in determining if your drinking water is safe. Click the link to see if you have the same questions (FAQ). If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out to Suburban Laboratories and a project manager will be more than happy to assist you.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Hours

Thursday 11/28/19:  All Offices Closed.

Friday 11/29/19:  All Offices Closed.

Friday 12/6/19:  Closing at 12:00 PM for a company function.

Tuesday 12/24/19:  All Offices Closed.

Wednesday 12/25/19:  All Offices Closed.

Tuesday 12/31/19:  All offices open but reduced staff.  Contact your Project Manager for availability.

Wednesday 1/1/20:  All Offices Closed.

Due to a 1-day incubation time, drinking water coliform samples will not be set up on the Monday 12/23/19 and Tuesday 12/31/19.  Emergency samples, special projects or samples with short holding times must be arranged with your Project Manager.

The Illinois EPA adopted new public water supply rules on July 25, 2019 that include modifications to analysis and reporting of new construction bacterial samples.  Under the new rules, new construction samples must be reported as presence or absence of total coliform bacteria.  This is a change from previous reporting requirements of no bacterial growth as measured by the membrane filtration method per Standard Methods 9222B.  This change allows laboratories to adopt current presence/absence methods utilized for the analysis of routine compliance distribution samples for total coliform and e. coli.  While the membrane filtration technique remains an approved method for both new construction and distribution samples, additional confirmation steps are now required when any bacteria is found to be present, leading to additional days of testing, increased turnaround time and cost. Effective immediately, Suburban Laboratories will no longer be using the membrane filter method.

Due to these rule changes, Suburban Laboratories has updated its policy to analyze all new construction samples by Colilert Presence/Absence method 9223B.  This allows for more efficient analysis and faster reporting of results.  It is understood that on some rare cases, a total count of coliform bacteria or e. coli is preferred.  In these situations, Suburban Laboratories will analyze samples via method 9223B using Quanti-tray to obtain a quantifiable bacteria value.  This procedure employs the same technique as in the presence/absence method, detects down to one (1) organism per 100 mL, and is an approved EPA method for drinking water samples.  If you require quantification of your coliform samples, you must notify your project manager and specify this on all paperwork when delivering samples to the lab.

When reports and invoices are generated they are automatically uploaded to our client portal FlashPoint®. All clients have access to FlashPoint and in the settings can choose to have reports and invoices automatically emailed to them. FlashPoint is the fastest way to get reports and invoices. Without FlashPoint, the delivery procedure is manual, takes longer and is potentially less accurate. To improve on-time delivery, accuracy and efficiency, effective January 1, 2019 we will be using FlashPoint for all client reports and invoices. Clients who do not already have an online account will be enrolled to receive reports and invoices electronically. This process will allow you to receive reports and invoices by email the instant they are generated, retrieve old information and check the status of work in progress. It will also help us in our mission to protect the environment by reducing paper and energy.  To sign up for FlashPoint access, visit http://flashpoint.suburbanlabs.com/Register.aspx or contact your Account Manager.

FlashPoint Client Access

Effective Monday July 16, 2018 our Oak Brook Terrace Service Center has moved to:

1S132 Summit Ave Ste. 101A
Oak Brook Terrace, IL 60181

This service center is an unmanned location that houses our state-of-the-art custody lockers.  Clients can drop off samples between the hours of 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM Monday through Friday.  Suburban Laboratories will pick up samples from the custody lockers at Noon and 3:00 PM Monday through Friday.  Clients are reminded that to ensure samples have sufficient holding time remaining to transport and process samples, samples must be delivered to the lockers as soon as possible after collection. Ice is provided on-site for samples requiring thermal preservation.

For questions contact Pat Rodriguez at (708) 544-3260 ext 214.