QROS does what it says. QROS is an abbreviation for Quick Results On Site.
QROS was established in 2004 to provide a single supplier of accurate on site analysis
techniques that could generate rapid and reliable results for contaminated land practitioners,
waste management operators and regulatory authorities. Good quality on site analysis
when used appropriately can increase the overall quality of the analytical data being
generated for a site as well as reduce the overall site investigation or remediation
cost. The availability of analytical data within minutes of taking a sample means
a site investigation team can track where pollutants are in a single visit and not
require multiple visits. During the remediation, soil that is uncontaminated is not
needlessly excavated and sent to a hazardous or non hazardous landfill or treatment
process.
The use of on-site analytical techniques has been endorsed by regulatory bodies since
1990. The US EPA had many on site methods incorporated into the SW-846 approved analytical
methods guidance document. The Environment Agency in the UK also endorses the use
of on site analysis as do the Australian EPA. The biggest barrier to the use of on
site analysis has been the ability to get the kits or analysers to generate good
quality data in the field. Good quality analysis from a reputable laboratory requires
a team of staff that includes the technician who operates the instrument, an analyst
to interpret the data and another technician who can maintain the analyser. The same
requirements are needed when running an analyser on site, but the role of the technicians
and analyst must be combined into one person. This level of expertise is unusual
in one person and if a person is not sufficiently well trained in the use of a technique,
the results produced can be misleading. Unfortunately, many test kit and analyser
manufacturers indicated that their products were easy to use and did not really require
a trained operator, when in reality, a lot of training and practice was needed to
get the best results. Hoping to hire a test kit or analyser and run it the next day
by just reading the instruction manual has lead to many very expensive mistakes.
To effectively use on-site analysis, techniques must also be available to analyse
for all of the contaminants expected on the site. This means the on-site analyst
must be familiar with a wide variety of techniques and instruments, and have ready
access to them all. For most on-site practitioners, finding anyone with this level
of expertise was almost impossible as was the task of finding all of the techniques
needed. One final issue was the requirement for a readily available back up for the
analyser if the one on site stopped working for some reason (normally a breakage).
On-site analysers are expensive and needing to keep a replacement just in case is
prohibitive for many. For these reasons on-site analysis has remained a fringe activity.
QROS however removes these problems by providing a highly trained analyst plus all
of the required analysers for a particular project.
A secondary issue with the earlier on site analysers was that they are adaptations
of existing instruments or techniques often over 20 years old, and are not specifically
designed for on-site analysis for contaminated land. For this reason QROS has heavily
invested in its own development programme to design and build instruments and develop
techniques specifically for on-site use. The first of these products is the QED hydrocarbon
analyser. This unique analyser is able to easily identify the sample hydrocarbon
type and accurately quantify the amount of hydrocarbon present. QROS also works closely
with other technology manufacturers to help them produce products more readily tailored
to contaminated land analysis. The QROS development team is purely focused on developing
new techniques and field analysers.
Based on their experience and success on other projects in 2007 QROS was asked to
conduct all the screening of contaminated soil on the Olympic Park enabling project.
QROSs involvement was instrumental in seeing the project move three months ahead
of schedule.
Due to the success of QROS in the UK, 2008 saw the launch QROS US. It has rapidly
been involved in a number of large projects and secured the retention of on-site
analytical services by several large US engineering and environmental consultancies
as well as the US Navy. Approvals by several States for the QROS QED hydrocarbon
analyser as a replacement for Method 8015 and Method 412 are due in late 2011.
QROS is also establishing operations in Nigeria and Australia with the QED analyser
being approved by the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to
help clean up oil spills in the Niger Delta.
If you need on site analysis or need information or advice about on site analysis,
please look around this site or call QROS and we will be very happy to guide you.
