Overview - SIST ISO 5667-14:2015 (water quality sampling QA/QC)
SIST ISO 5667-14:2015 - part of the ISO 5667 series - provides guidance on quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) techniques for the manual sampling and handling of environmental waters. It covers surface, potable, waste, marine and groundwater sampling, and the general principles may also apply to sludge and sediment sampling. The standard emphasizes preventing sampling error and ensuring that samples delivered to the laboratory are representative and suitably controlled for their intended purpose.
Key topics and technical requirements
ISO 5667-14 organizes practical QA/QC guidance across the sampling lifecycle. Major topics include:
- Sources of sampling error and methods to identify and minimize contamination, loss, or instability of determinands.
- Sampling quality management: technical and personnel requirements, preparation of a sampling manual, and training of sampling staff.
- Strategy and organisation: timing, frequency, duration of sampling, and selection of sampling locations.
- Sample collection and handling: equipment checks, on-site preparation, field measurements, sampling techniques, sample identification and field sample protocol.
- Transport and storage: requirements for maintaining sample integrity between field and laboratory.
- Sampling quality control techniques:
- Replicate (duplicate) samples to assess precision and representativeness.
- Field blanks to detect contamination introduced during sampling.
- Rinsing procedures for sampling equipment and containers.
- Filtration recovery and recovery testing.
- Spiked samples and spiked environmental samples to assess recovery and bias.
- Use of Shewhart and duplicate control charts for QC data analysis.
- Analysis and interpretation of QC data, plus recommendations for independent audits.
- Informative annexes on common errors, control charts, and sub-sampling techniques.
Practical applications and target users
ISO 5667-14 is practical for organisations and professionals involved in environmental water monitoring and sample management:
- Environmental laboratories and QA managers implementing sampling QA/QC programs
- Water utilities (drinking water quality teams)
- Wastewater treatment operators and compliance officers
- Environmental consultants and field sampling teams
- Regulators, researchers and contractors conducting monitoring, pollution incident response, or groundwater investigations
Use cases include designing QC protocols, confirming sampling methods before compliance monitoring, training field staff, and documenting chain-of-custody and contamination controls.
Related standards
Read ISO 5667-14 alongside:
- ISO 5667-1 - design of sampling programmes and sampling techniques
- ISO 5667-3 - preservation and handling of water samples
Also part of the broader ISO 5667 series covering lakes, rivers, marine waters, groundwater, sediments and related topics.
Keywords: ISO 5667-14, water quality sampling, quality assurance, quality control, environmental water sampling, field blank, spiked samples, control charts, sample handling.
