The 25,000 square foot laboratory building, located on the North bank of the Grand Calumet River at Columbia Avenue, was built in 1996. Visitors entering the building will first notice a dramatic two-story atrium arranged with indoor planting and seating areas for the public and employees. The design is a contemporary, 45-degree triangular shape with an attractive exterior landscape and an interior allowing for spacious and well-lighted work areas.
The first level houses pretreatment laboratories for sampling equipment preparation, safety division offices, training space, lockers, and lunch area. A geographic information system (GIS)/engineering graphics lab, also on the first level, houses automated mapping for the Sanitary District and Sewer Department. GIS combines the efficiency of a computerized mapping system with database management. This electronic base map will ultimately include all underground facilities. Computer-aided drafting technology, or CAD, creates and maintains mechanical drawings for the engineering staff.
The building’s second level is dedicated to chemistry, microbiology, and instrumentation laboratories. There are particle characterization sample preparation and incubator rooms, and storage rooms. There is also a spacious conference room, reception area and a public display case highlighted by an aquarium holding aquatic life from the Grand Calumet River. Office space for support personnel is located on both levels.
The Laboratory at the Sanitary District of Hammond is responsible for conducting all of the analytical testing that is required by the District’s NPDES Permit as well as all necessary process control testing to ensure that the District discharges an extremely high quality effluent into the Grand Calumet River. Additionally, the 10 highly qualified laboratory technicians analyze samples that are taken from all of the industrial users within the District to determine compliance with the stringent requirements of their pretreatment permits. More than 150,000 tests are conducted by laboratory personnel each year.
Laboratory personnel continuously analyze qa/qc samples to ensure that the data produced meets the highest quality standards. Annually, the laboratory successfully participates in the EPA DMR-QA round-robin quality assurance program.