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Comparison of Methods for Sampling Dissolved Nitrogen in a Fractured Carbonate‐Rock Aquifer
Author(s) -
Lietman Patricia L.,
Gerhart James M.,
Wetzel Kim L.
Publication year - 1989
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.1745-6592.1989.tb01131.x
Subject(s) - aquifer , borehole , groundwater , geology , sampling (signal processing) , water well , hydrology (agriculture) , bedrock , carbonate , mineralogy , geotechnical engineering , chemistry , geomorphology , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision , organic chemistry
As part of an agricultural non‐point‐source study in the Conestoga River head waters area in Pennsylvania, different methods for collecting ground water samples from a fractured carbonate‐rock aquifer were compared. Samples were collected from seven wells that had been cased to bedrock and drilled as open holes to the first significant water‐bearing zone. All samples were analyzed for specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and dissolved‐nitrogen species. Water samples collected by a point sampler without pumping the well were compared to samples collected by a submersible pump and by a point sampler after pumping the well. Samples collected by using a point sampler, adjacent to major water‐bearing zones in an open borehole without pumping the well, were not statistically different from samples collected from the pump discharge or from point samples collected adjacent to major water‐bearing zones after pumping the well. Samples collected by using a point sampler without pumping the well at depths other than those adjacent to the water‐bearing zones did not give the same results as the other methods, especially when the water samples were collected from within the well casings. It was concluded that, for the wells at this site, sampling adjacent to major water‐bearing zones by using a point sampler without pumping the well provides samples that are as representative of aquifer conditions as samples collected from the pump discharge after reaching constant temperature and specific conductance, and by using a point sampler after pumping the well.