Overview

Sampling is the first step in carrying out chemical, physical and biological examinations. Therefore, the goal of sampling should be to obtain a representative sample for the research question and to supply it to the laboratory in the correct manner. Errors caused by improper sampling, sample pre-treatment, transport and storage cannot be corrected. This part of ISO 5667 specifies quality assurance and quality control procedures and provides additional guidance on sampling of the various types of water covered in the specific parts of ISO 5667. Quality control procedures are necessary for the collection of environmental water samples for the following reasons: a) to monitor the effectiveness of sampling methodology; b) to demonstrate that the various stages of the sample collection process are adequately controlled and suited to the intended purpose, including adequate control over sources of error such as sample contamination, loss of determinand and sample instability. To achieve this, quality control procedures should provide a means of detecting sampling error, and hence a means of rejecting invalid or misleading data resulting from the sampling process; c) to quantify and control the sources of error which arise in sampling. Quantification gives a guide to the significance that sampling plays in the overall accuracy of data; and d) to provide information on suitably abbreviated quality assurance procedures that might be used for rapid sampling operations such as pollution incidents or groundwater investigations. The standard differs from DIN ISO 5667-14:2013-09 in that the scope has been extended to include quality control techniques relating to the manual sampling of surface, potable, waste, marine and ground waters. The text of ISO 5667-14:2014 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 147 "Water quality" of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and taken over as FprEN ISO 5667-14:2014 by Technical Committee CEN/TC 230 "Water analysis", the secretariat of which is held by DIN (Germany). The responsible German committee is Working Group NA 119-01-03-01-01 AK "Probenahme" ("Sampling") of Working Committee NA 119-01-03 AA "Wasseruntersuchung" ("Water examination") at the DIN Standards Committee Water Practice (NAW).

Document: references other documents

Responsible national committee

NA 119-01-03-09 UA - Sampling (ISO/TC 147/SC 6)  

Responsible european committee

CEN/TC 230 - Water analysis  

Responsible international committee

ISO/TC 147/SC 6/WG 1 - Sampling management