Through the collective efforts of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the National Physical Standards Laboratory (NPSL) and the TRTA II programme, Pakistan has now established a National Proficiency Testing (PT) Scheme, housed within the NPSL and operational since 2014. Funds were mobilized by MoST through a PC1 project that will allow for the PT scheme to become sustainable within 3 years of its functioning.
The National PT scheme has also carried out three pilot rounds of Proficiency Testing in two areas; chemical and microbiological testing. The three rounds of PT included:
- Determination of Lead and Chromium in water – completed and report issued.
- Determination of Electrical Conductivity, Total Hardness, Calcium and Chloride in water – completed and report issued.
- Microbiological Analysis of Water which is “Determination of Aerobic Plate Count (APC) (cfu/ml), Total Coliform Count, Faecal Coliform Count and E. coli Count in water – completed, report awaited
These three rounds were carried out using the available equipment and facilities.
Following the success of these three pilot rounds and the release of the funds from the PC1 project, the renovation work was initiated during the second-third quarters of 2015. The civil works and installation of new equipment was completed in December 2015. A modern PT provider facility has now been established at NPSL, with properly designed infrastructure and latest equipment through the technical inputs from the international and national experts of the TRTA II programme.
In the meantime, the quality ad technical documents were assessed by PNAC for accreditation with a full assessment due in January 2016, when it is expected that accreditation to ISO 17043 will be granted. These laboratories have already achieved accreditation to ISO 17025.
