In Reply Refer To:
Mail Stop 412

September 8, 2011

Office of Water Quality Technical Memorandum 2011.04

Subject: Effective September 16, 2011 - The New Analytical Services Request (ASR) Form for Samples Received at the National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) is available for use.

Process:

The standard Analytical Services Request (ASR) has been revised to accommodate changes in the National Water Information System (NWIS) and reflect minor changes to streamline the sample submission and login processes.

Summary of Changes:

• Mandatory for sample login: All items in this section must be completed before samples can be processed. The only exceptions are NWIS Record Number (used by Science Center only) and composite sample end date and time (blanks are valid entries for end date/time). The project account number is the 15-digit code for billing and should not be confused with the 9-digit code in NWIS-QWDATA for project tracking within the Center.

• Optional Site/Sample Information: All items in this section are optional but will be entered during login if present.

  The analysis source code (anl_src_cd) is no longer in NWIS 4.11 and was removed from the ASR. The sample-level collecting agency codes and result-level analyzing entity codes currently (NWIS 4.11)are used to specify what agency provided the data.

• Instructions to circle “A” or “D” have been enhanced to encourage field personnel to indicate adding or deleting Laboratory Codes. The Login procedure at the National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) assumes the codes are to be added if they are not circled.

Implementation schedule:

The following schedule defines the implementation of the standardized ASR.

1. The new ASR should be used for samples received on or after September 16, 2011.
2. The ASR is to be completed in permanent waterproof ink. Water-based markers are not acceptable.
3. The ASR is available with and without instructions on the NWQL homepage (http://wwwnwql.cr.usgs.gov/Services.shtml) in PDF and Microsoft Word formats. The fixed-value codes for Quality Assurance samples were removed from the ASR instructions but a complete list of fixed-value codes for NWIS-QWDATA is available in Appendix B at: http://nwis.usgs.gov/currentdocs/qw/QW.user.book.html.
4. The ASR produced from the current version of Personal Computer Field Forms (PCFF) is still acceptable.
   

Donna N. Myers /s/
Chief, Office of Water Quality

This memorandum supersedes OWQ Technical Memorandum 10.06.

Distribution: All WRD Employees

Attachments:

• US Geological Survey Analytical Survey Request Form
• US Geological Survey Analytical Survey Request Form and Instructions
  

**************************************
Donna N. Myers
U.S. Geological Survey
Chief, Office of Water Quality
National Center, MS 412
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20192
Ph. (703) 648-5012
Cell (571) 643-3020
Fax (703) 648-6693
Email dnmyers@usgs.gov