Reliable water testing starts with reliable standards. For Australian laboratories, water utilities, and manufacturers that depend on defensible data, ERA® Life Sciences certified reference materials (CRMs) and proficiency testing (PT) services are an industry benchmark, and Graham B Jackson Pty Ltd (GBJPL) supplies those accredited ERA products across Australia and New Zealand.
Why certified reference materials matter for water testing
Certified reference materials (CRMs) give labs a documented “truth” against which instruments, methods and operators can be evaluated. In practical terms, for water testing, this means CRMs and ERA proficiency testing help you to:
Validate methods and demonstrate measurement uncertainty for compliance audits.
Calibrate instruments (TOC, conductivity, turbidity, conductivity, and other analyzers) to reduce drift and re-runs.
Detect systematic bias early by comparing inter-laboratory performance in PT schemes.
ERA’s water CRMs are manufactured and documented so that their assigned values are traceable to higher-order standards (e.g., NIST/USP where available), making results defensible in regulatory and customer disputes.
Accreditation = auditable confidence
Not all CRMs or PT providers are created equal. ERA’s PT and CRM portfolio is covered by multiple, globally recognised accreditations — including ISO/IEC 17034 (Reference Material Producers), ISO/IEC 17025 (Testing/calibration laboratories), ISO/IEC 17043 (Proficiency testing providers) and national schemes such as NELAC/A2LA and INAB at different facilities. These accreditations mean ERA’s production, characterisation and PT processes are independently audited and auditable during your own lab assessments.
Practical takeaway: using ERA-certified materials and ERA proficiency testing removes a common objection during regulatory inspections — you can point to third-party accreditation and traceability rather than internal, undocumented controls.
What ERA offers for water (key analytes and product types)
ERA Life Sciences and Waters ERA provide a broad suite tailored to environmental and process water needs. Common, high-impact CRMs and PT themes include:
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and low-TOC vials for ultrapure water systems.
Conductivity/resistivity standards used in pharma and ultrapure water monitoring.
Turbidity standards and particulate controls for process water.
Ion and nutrient standards (nitrate, phosphate, ammonium) for environmental compliance.
ERA’s product catalogue and water programs (monthly/quarterly PT windows) let you pick the right matrix, concentration range and frequency to match your SOPs and accreditation cycles.
How ERA proficiency testing and CRMs improve lab performance (data-driven effects)
Multiple practical metrics improve after integrating accredited CRMs and PT into a QA program:
Reduced re-run rates — routine checks against CRM’s flag instrument bias early, lowering repeat analyses. (ERA and Waters’ literature highlight improved reproducibility when QC materials are used).
Faster root-cause resolution — when PT performance shows a trend, historical CRM results provide a baseline to separate instrument issues from operator or reagent problems.
Documented compliance evidence — COAs and PT reports from an ISO-accredited provider are accepted by accreditation bodies and regulators; this shortens inspection time and reduces corrective action scope.
(If you track KPIs: compare % of PT “acceptable” results year-on-year, mean instrument drift, and number of corrective actions. These metrics often show measurable improvement within 6–12 months of a structured CRM/PT program.)
Best-practice deployment for Australian labs
Map analytes to risk: Prioritise CRMs and PT for high-risk or compliance-critical analytes (discharge limits, public health parameters, TOC for pharma).
Use matched matrices and concentration ranges: Select ERA water CRMs that mirror your sample matrix (ultrapure, process water, environmental) to avoid matrix bias.
Schedule PT participation strategically: Participate in ERA PT rounds that align with your accreditation audits — quarterly or monthly rounds are available for many water programs.
Record and trend results: Store COAs, PT reports and internal CRM check data in your LIMS; trend analysis detects drift earlier than ad-hoc checks. ERA’s eDATA informatics tool is an example of a vendor solution that supports trend analysis.
Why buy ERA products through GBJPL?
GBJPL understands the local regulatory landscape and supplies ERA Life Sciences certified reference materials and PT programs to Australian and NZ labs with local support. We can help you choose the right ERA CRM/PT product, secure COAs, and align shipments with your audit calendar so you have the required documentation when it matters.
For Further Enquiry Contact: sales@gbjpl.com.au