The Hydro-chemical laboratory is located at Water Resources Bhawan, Sector- 68, S.A.S Nagar, Mohali, situated in the main town at a distance of 5 km from I.S.B.T. Sector-43, Chandigarh, 7 km from S.A.S. Nagar Airport and 13 km from Chandigarh Railway Station. It was originally started in 1970 in sector-17 with the establishment of Water Resources Department under Punjab Government and was upgraded under Hydrology Project II (aided by World Bank).
The purpose to set up the lab is to test water and soil quality of Punjab solely for irrigation purposes mainly to monitor the water quality problems in South Western Districts of Punjab. In the last few years, the routine work of lab includes water quality and soil testing for samples which were procured during the boring of P-tubes installed to monitor the Ground level of Punjab under World Bank Funds.
In general, two types of tests are performed for soil in the lab i.e pH and EC for the soil samples collected at a depth of 0.5 mtr, 1 mtr, 1.5 mtr and 2 mtr respectively below Ground Level. The above tests provide an indication of the chemical nature of the soil. It helps in deciding whether the soil is suitable for agriculture purpose. Tests conducted on water samples include colour, odour, pH, EC, TDS, RSC etc. Apart from this, the major ions tests like presence of Sodium, potassium, Sulphate chloride etc in water are tested. In total 9 ions can be tested in the lab for their presence in the water.
Samples of soil and water can be sent to the Hydro-chemical lab for chemical analytical test results for identification of sample as fit/unfit for irrigation purpose.