SAMPLING MONITORING WELLS

How To Collect Samples: An Instruction Set

By William Novak

As discussed in my previous paper, a monitoring well is a pipe bored into a groundwater source that collects water for testing purposes. With our knowledge of how a monitoring well works, I can now describe the process of collecting samples from the monitoring well through the process of bailing. Bailing is a term referring to the removal of water from a source with some kind of container. I will now describe the specific procedures to effectively collect samples from a monitoring well.

Required Items
Quantity 1 1x Roll 1x Bottle 1 2-3 Varies* 1x Box 1 1x Box Name Description
A depth gauge is a device that measures how full the monitoring well is and the depth to the bailed.

Depth Gauge bottom. There are calculations that need to be done to know how much water will be

Paper Towels & Paper Towels and Cleaner will be used to clean off the tape of the depth gauge after you Cleaner have gotten your measurements from each of the wells. Use soap and water as the cleaner. Calculator well before collecting a sample.
A calculator is used for calculating the volume of water that needs to be purged from the

Five Gallon Five gallon buckets are used to travel the purged water to either the collection drums or a Buckets dumping spot. Bailers retrieving the bailer from the well.
Bailers are plastic tubes that can fill up with water and retain the water while you are

Boxed Nylon Twine is the string you will be using to get the bailer to the bottom of the well. I advise you Twine to purchase boxed twine due to having a larger capacity and ease of accessibility. A Knife A knife will be used to cut the twine to length. Disposable Latex gloves are used to keep the oils on our hands from contaminating the well samples. They are also used to protect our hands from the substances in the water and the abrasion Latex Gloves from the twine. 50 Gallon A collection drum is used to store the contaminated purged water of a contaminated well. Collection Drum Collection Vials A collection vial is purchased from a testing facility that is used to store the sample from the and coolers aquifer. The coolers are used to keep the ground water samples at ground temperature.
Double the amount of wells you are testing and add a few extra just in case damages occur. Water only needs to be collected if it shows contamination. On average, a well can yield about 10-15 gallons of water. To be safe assume four and a half wells will fill a fifty-gallon drum. Each well will have a sample collected. Some wells require larger samples than others. After the first sampling, the testing facility will instruct you on how much the specific well needs to be sampled each time.

Varies** Varies***
* ** ***

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Part 1: Well Calculations

1.1.1 To open the well, unlock the outer cap and remove the well plug. The monitoring well is ready to be measured, purged, and sampled. 1.1.2 Begin by slowly lowering the probe of the depth gauge into the well. When the probe comes in contact with water, the tape housing will beep. The girl in pink above is shown doing this.

1.1 Acquiring the Measurements

1.1.3 In inches, make note of the depth to the water. This is the first depth you need in the calculations to follow. 1.1.4 Continue to let the tape out until the probe reaches the bottom. There will no longer be a tension on the tape when the probe is resting on the bottom. 1.1.5 Also write this depth down in inches This is the last measurement collected from the well. 1.1.6 While rolling the probe back up, clean off the tape with a soapy paper towel. This will reduce the chances of spreading contaminates to other wells. 1.2.1 Complete the calculations with the following list of labels: Ad = Air Depth (This is the first measurement you took in inches) Td = Total Depth (This is the second measurement you took in inches) Wd = Water Depth (Wd = Td Ad) Dw = Diameter of Well (Measure this at top of well from edge to edge in inches) Vw = Volume of water that needs to be removed. 1.2.2 Using the water depth and the diameter of the well, calculate the water volume: Vw = [Wd*(Dw)2]/294.3 This is the volume of water that needs to be purged from the well. (In gallons) 1.2.3 Caclulate the amount of buckets required to empty the well: Number of Buckets = Vw / 5 1.2.4 Repeat steps 1.1 and 1.2 for each of the wells to obtain their specific measurements.

1.2 Calculating the Volume of Water to be Removed

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Part 2: Bailing
2.1 Preparations
2.1.1 Get two bailers per well. The first one is used for purging. The second bailer is used to collect the sample. 2.1.2 With the twine, tie a knot around the top portion of the bailer. A good knot to use is the constrictor knot. I explain how to tie this on the next page.

-IM PORTANTMake sure the knot you tie is a good binding knot. You DO NOT want the knot to slip off when the bailer is in the well. It is extremely difficult to retrieve the bailer if the knot comes undone while in the well. I HIGHLY recommend the constrictor knot or one of similar quality.

2.2.1 With the twine securely fastened, begin to lower the bailer into the well. Bailers like the examples above have a ball that acts like a check valve in them. Upon hitting the surface of the water, the ball floats in its housing freely. This allows water to fill the bailer.

2.2 Purging the Well

2.2.2 After the bailer becomes full, retrieve it from the well. A full bailer can be determined by its weight. Due to gravity, the ball returns to the closed position which traps the water in the bailer.
.

2.2.4 After retrieving the first bailer, check the water quality. Certain gases and other contaminates can be visibly seen and smelled. If the water contains contaminants, dump the purged water into the collection barrels. Otherwise, the water should be safe to dump on the ground. 2.2.5 After purging the well, throw away the used bailer and twine and move onto the next well. The recently purged monitoring well needs time to seep before a collection can be made.

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Step 2.1.2: Tying the Constrictor Knot

Knot Description Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4
A good thing about the constrictor knot is that it is quick to tie and it tightens upon itself when pulled on. It is also known to hold up in wet conditions such as this. In most cases it gets so tight that you cannot easily undo the knot. Since we are using this knot on a disposable item, it is great to tie to the bailer for sampling the well. Pass the working end over and through the hole at the top of the bailer. As shown, leave a small loop when going around. Again, pass the working end over and through the hole at the top of the bailer. After, pass the working end under the part used to make the second pass but over the part for the first pass. Go around the loop that was created in Step 1 and through it. Pull both ends to tighten the knot. Make sure that it is fully tightened upon itself.

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Step 3: Collecting Samples

3.1.1 After purging all of the wells, return to the first well you purged.

3.1 Preparations

3.1.2 Change disposable gloves and get the second bailer tied to the twine. 3.1.3 Fill the unused bailer with the newly seeped water in the monitoring well.

3.1.4 Prepare the collection vials for the water samples. -DANGERUpon opening the collection vials, you may see a vapor evaporating into the air. This is an acid, usually Hydrochloric Acid, that is escaping into the atmosphere. The testing facility will have added an acid to keep the samples preserved after they are collected. As with any acid, Hydrochloric Acid is corrosive and will burn if it comes in direct contact with the eyes or skin. You should avoid inhaling the fumes as they escape the container and any other consumption that may occur. -Seek medical attention if an irritation occurs from contact.3.2.1 With the collection vials ready, use the water from the new bailer to fill them. Most likely, the packaging for the bailers came with a device to push the check valve up and get water out of the bailer. This will allow you to fill each of the vials. If there isnt a device, use the hole in the top to pour the samples into the vials. 3.2.2 Keep the samples near ground water temperature while delivering to the testing facility. Depending on the season, you may need to use a cooler on the job site to do so. 3.2.3 After obtaining these samples, move onto the other wells and repeat steps 3.1 and 3.2.

3.2 Filling the Collection Vials

Closing Statements

After collecting samples from each of the monitoring wells, they can be tested for contaminates and other particles that may be in the ground water. It is important to monitor the spread of contaminates in the ground water to keep the populations drinking water safe to consume and use for other daily tasks.