Overview of Construction Water Testing (IS 456)
- Tested by
- NABL-accredited partner lab
- Regulation
- IS 456:2000
- Typical turnaround
- 3–5 working days
- Sample needed
- 2 litres per source
IS 456 requires water for mixing and curing concrete to be free from harmful amounts of oil, acids, alkalis, salts, sugar and organic matter, and sets limits for pH, organic and inorganic solids, sulphates, chlorides and suspended matter. The chloride limit is tighter for reinforced concrete, because chlorides corrode steel.
Sites often rely on borewell or tanker water, or treated wastewater, whose quality changes over time. Testing each source before use and periodically during the project is a common contract requirement, and avoids strength and durability problems that show up only years later. The concrete itself is checked through concrete testing.
What we do for you
- Lab and parameter list chosen for your purpose: licence, export, buyer or internal QC
- Sampling guidance, and pickup or on-site sampling where needed
- One contact who follows up with the lab until the report is issued
- Report explained in plain language, with next steps if a result fails