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A Portable Well Point Sampler for Plume Tracking
Author(s) -
Kerfoot William B.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6592.1984.tb00891.x
Subject(s) - silt , plume , geology , soil water , sampling (signal processing) , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , geotechnical engineering , soil science , geomorphology , engineering , meteorology , physics , filter (signal processing) , electrical engineering
For regions of shallow ground water, a shallow well point sampler can provide cost‐effective sampling of contaminant plumes. A miniature well point sampler allows rapid sampling of ground water down to a maximum depth of 12 feet below grade. A high ratio of striking force to cross‐sectional area of the shaft enables the well point to penetrate soils grading from silt through sand to fine gravel. Three slot sizes have proved satisfactory for the slotted well point. For fine gravel through silty sand, a receiver flask serving as a silt trap with a hand pump can withdraw water samples. For silt or clay, a special shielded point is used to expose a porous screen upon withdrawal of the shaft. The points can be left imbedded in the strata and a vacuum drawn to recover a sample under saturated or unsaturated conditions. Such a sampler has been shown to be effective in tracing plumes from individual on‐site septic systems and hazardous waste sites. The text describes a simple procedure for plume analysis and description of the extent of dewatered strata near the point based upon different sample volumes. The probe has been used with conductivity meters and fluorometers for profiling subsurface plumes. A cost comparison is shown between monitoring well installation and the portable well point for varying sample frequency and depth.