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Aqua Pa. is spending $8 million to build a new testing lab in Bryn Mawr

The new two-story lab will more than double the size of the current 6,400 square-foot lab that has served the company for more than 60 years.

Christopher Franklin, the chief executive of Essential Utilities, poses in the old Aqua Pennsylvania laboratory at the company's headquarters in Bryn Mawr. THe company on Friday broke ground on 14,700-square-foot addition that will more than double the size of its lab, which is licensed to test water in five states.
Christopher Franklin, the chief executive of Essential Utilities, poses in the old Aqua Pennsylvania laboratory at the company's headquarters in Bryn Mawr. THe company on Friday broke ground on 14,700-square-foot addition that will more than double the size of its lab, which is licensed to test water in five states.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

Aqua Pennsylvania on Friday broke ground on an $8 million laboratory in a new addition to the Bryn Mawr headquarters of its corporate parent, Essential Utilities Inc.

The new two-story building, at 14,700 square feet, will more than double the size of the current 6,400 square-foot lab that the water company has used for six decades. The new structure, which is expected to be completed in about a year, will face Elliott Avenue.

Chris Crockett, the company’s chief environmental officer, said the laboratory was required to keep pace with advancements in testing science. The number of regulated contaminants in drinking water has increased from 23 in the 1970s to 90. “In the same period, we’ve gone from measuring in parts per million to parts per trillion, a millionfold increase in detection levels,” he said in a statement.

The new lab will also help the company respond to emerging concerns about contamination from the PFAS family of chemicals in drinking water. Aqua’s current laboratory is one of two laboratories accredited in Pennsylvania to test for PFAS, which has been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, immune-system problems, decreased fertility, and lower birth weight.

The company employs 20 microbiologists and chemists.

Essential Utilities, which traces its roots to Philadelphia Suburban Water Co., provides drinking water and wastewater treatment services in eight states. The Bryn Mawr lab is accredited in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia, which means its test results are accepted by each state for compliance testing.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Essential Utilities Chief Executive Officer Chris Franklin, Aqua Pennsylvania President Marc Lucca, Pennsylvania State Sen. Daylin Leach, Montgomery County Commissioner Joseph C. Gale, Pennsylvania State Rep. Greg Vitali, and representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Lower Merion Township.