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DEVELOPMENT OF A CAPILLARY WICK UNSATURATED ZONE PORE WATER SAMPLER
Citation:
Brown, K., J. Thomas, AND M. Holder. DEVELOPMENT OF A CAPILLARY WICK UNSATURATED ZONE PORE WATER SAMPLER. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/4-88/001 (NTIS PB89129100), 1988.
Description:
Existing unsaturated zone soil water samplers have several deficiencies which jeopardize their utility for field sampling. A capillary wick sampler was developed to overcome these problems. Materials for its construction were selected and tested for conductivity, capillary rise, and chemical inertness. Breakthrough curves for selected inorganic ions and organic chemicals were established in the laboratory. No adsorption/desorption of these chemicals was found for the capillary wick sampler, the suction cup sampler, and the pan sampler. Banks of 8 capillary wick samplers were installed in test plots of undisturbed soils having sand, silt loam and clay textures. The data were used to determine the number of samplers required to characterize the flow of contaminants resulting from a uniform application to the soil surface. These results indicated that, to achieve 95% confidence, 31 samplers would be required in sandy soil, 6 in silt loam soil and 2 in clay soil.