Water Samplers

Question 1: Would any of you have knowledge of how to make a homemade Kemmerer type sampler?

Question 2: We are looking for plans/designs for constructing integrated water samplers for lakes.

Question 3: We are looking for a method of sampling that involves putting bottles into a basket.

Question 1

Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 11:02:30 -0400
From: "Jan (Hosier) Sneddon" <jhosier@earthforce.org>
Subject: [volmonitor] Fwd: seeking homemade water sampler

Greetings, handy water samplers!

Would any of you have knowledge of how to make a homemade Kemmerer type sampler (e.g., http://www.wildco.com/vw_prdct_mdl.asp?prdct_mdl_cd=1900H) for lowering off of bridges and the like?

Blueprints would be welcome! :)

jan

Responses

Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 08:32:27 -0700
From: Eleanor Ely <ellieely@earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] Fwd: seeking homemade water sampler

See "Low-Cost Van Dorn Water Sampler" on page 23 of the Fall 1994 issue (vol 6 no 2) of The Volunteer Monitor, and also the second sampler described under "Collecting an Integrated Sample" on page 17 of the Fall 2000 issue (vol 12 no 2). (Back issues are available electronically at www.epa.gov/owow/volunteer/vm_index.html. Online versions of issues before 2002 have a weird layout because they are not PDFs, but you should still be able to find the information.)

A request: Could anyone replying directly to Jan rather than the whole listserv please copy me on their message?

Thank you.

Ellie

Eleanor Ely
Editor, The Volunteer Monitor Newsletter
50 Benton Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112
415-334-2284
ellieely@earthlink.net

Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 12:39:06 -0400
From: "Schenk, Ann" <aschenk@dnr.state.md.us>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] Fwd: seeking homemade water sampler

With regard to skewing the DO measurement by using a bucket/ surface water sample, wouldn't you aerate the sample as soon as you emptied the sampler into another container for DO measurement? Not knowing your DO measurement method (Clark cell, optical probe, Winkler titration), it is hard to say if the collection method would have an impact greater than the measuring method's accuracy. You'd have to do a lot of splashing and sloshing to exceed the Clark cell accuracy of most meters (anywhere from 0.2 mg/L to 0.5 mg/L for the better cells). Don't remember off the top of my head the Winkler accuracy and precision. What I do remember is that the quality of the reagents and lighting to see the color change is important to that method.

If you have to have non-surface DO, then, yes, a collection bottle is needed.
I just hope they rinse the bucket in stream water if they are also collecting nutrient chemistry samples.

Just my 2 cents. :)
Ann Schenk
Natural Resource Biologist III
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Ave., C-2
Annapolis, MD 21401
phone: 410-260-8609

Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 13:19:12 -0400
From: Jeffrey Schloss <jeff.schloss@unh.edu>
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Fwd: seeking homemade water sampler

With regard to collecting a proper DO sample for titration. If you carefully deploy a bucket that is fitted with a spout and tubing that allows you to fill a BOD bottle (specially designed not to trap air bubbles when closed) from the bottom up- and you count how long it takes to fill the bottle up and allow for 2 to 3 full volumes of water to flush through you should have a reasonably uninfluenced/disturbed sample to work with. Just remember that this sample only represents the surface water conditions if you are dealing with a system that has any temperature, current, or density (do to dissolved solids/salts) stratifications. So it would be fine for a mixed system.

Jeff Schloss
Director, NH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program
University of New Hampshire
Center for Freshwater Biology
and UNH Cooperative Extension

Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 00:33:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kimberly Rinard <cooter1994@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Fwd: seeking homemade water sampler

Here is a relatively inexpensive unit available thru Ben Meadows. There are a few others on their website also.
I would think that at $67 for the sampler it would actually be cheaper to buy the sampler until than to try to make one (unless
it does not suit your needs)

http://www.benmeadows.com/store/Water_Testing_and_Sampling/Water_Sampling/Water_Samplers_and_Accessories/2380/224195/?isredirect=true

Good luck
Kim Rinard
Granby,Mass

Question 2

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:37:04 -0700
From: "Williams, Gene" <Gene.Williams@co.snohomish.wa.us>
Subject: [volmonitor] Integrated Water Sampler

We are looking for plans/designs for constructing integrated water samplers for lakes. Or, if there are commercially available integrated samplers that are inexpensive, we would also be interested in that.

Also, if you have used integrated samplers and have opinions on how well the instruments worked, I would appreciate that.

Thanks.

Gene Williams
Snohomish County Public Works
Surface Water Management
3000 Rockefeller Avenue, M/S 607
Everett, WA 98201-4046
(425) 388-3464 x4563
gene.williams@co.snohomish.wa.us or
gene.williams@snoco.org

Responses

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:24:23 -0500
From: "Thorpe, Anthony Paul" <thorpet@missouri.edu>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] Integrated Water Sampler

Gene,

We participated in the EPA Lake Survey last year, and they (EPA) gave us these PVC samplers
that worked fairly well. I made a rough sketch, but you’ll need some PVC (I think it might have
been 3 inch…), a connector piece, a rubber stopper and a stopcock valve that can attach to the PVC
pipe you use. EPA gave us a 6 foot sampler, but we cut it in half and added threaded connectors in
the middle for easier transport and for sampling turbid water bodies.

http://www.lmvp.org/Misc/integratedsampler.gif

You lower it into the water with the valve open, cap the top when it’s in the water, then raise it
until the valve us just under the surface. Then close the valve and bring it on board your boat.

Open the valve and the water will trickle rapidly into your sample container. Remove the stopper and
the water falls out very quickly.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I can even take a couple of snapshots if you’d like.

Tony

PS: I also found this while searching Google Images: http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/CLMN/equipment.html

Tony Thorpe

Coordinator, Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program
302 ABNR University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: 1-800-895-2260
Fax: 573-884-5070
www.lmvp.org

Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:21:02 -0400
From: Jo Latimore <latimor1@msu.edu>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] Integrated Water Sampler

Gene,

Here in Michigan we developed an integrated sampler that we use for volunteer chlorophyll
monitoring in our statewide Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program. It can be built at reasonable
cost and is easy for volunteers to operate effectively. I will send you the plans separately as an
attachment (and would be happy to share with others who are interested - Editor's note, these are included below).

CLMP_Chlrophyll_Equipment_Instructions (9 KB pdf file)

CLMP_Chlorophyll_Equipment_Assembly (205 KB pdf file)

CLMP Chlorophyll Sampler Image(33 KB pdf file)

Chlorophyll Procedures 2008 (53 KB pdf file)

(Editor's note: You can also visit the CLMP site for more information: http://www.micorps.net/ and look at this section: lake monitoring/CLMP documents)

Cheers,

Jo

Jo A. Latimore, Ph.D.
Lake, Stream, & Watershed Outreach
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
Michigan State University
13 Natural Resources
East Lansing, MI 48824-1222
(517) 432-1491
latimor1@msu.edu

Question 3

From: Charles River Watershed Assoc. [mailto:charles@crwa.org]
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 11:33 AM
To: Volunteer water monitoring
Cc: 'Julie Wood'
Subject: [volmonitor] Experiences with basket samplers?

Hello all,

Charles River Watershed Association has a seventy-person volunteer monthly river water quality monitoring program. We currently use buckets to take samples (mostly off bridges), which are transferred into sample bottles. However, we are in process of switching over to basket samplers so that the water can be collected directly, without the potential for contamination from the bucket.

We have some ideas about the design of these basket samplers, but are still determining exactly what they will look like and be made of – we will be constructing them ourselves. Do any of you have good or bad experience with basket samplers? Suggestions for design of the samplers, or anything we should watch out for? How have your volunteers reacted to them?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Rebecca

Rebecca Scibek Wickham
Outreach Coordinator/Office Manager
Charles River Watershed Association
190 Park Road
Weston, MA 02493
Phone 781-788-0007 x200
Fax 781-788-0057
www.charlesriver.org

Responses

From: Danielle Donkersloot [mailto:Danielle.Donkersloot@dep.state.nj.us]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 1:06 PM
To: charles@crwa.org
Cc: jwood@crwa.org; eburres@waterboards.ca.gov
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Experiences with basket samplers?

Hello: In 2006 at the National Water Quality Monitoring Conference
I saw this bucket that the CA SWAMP teams use for monitoring and I was
amazed. They are simple to make, easy to use and they work. I have cc'ed
Erick, Regional Citizen Montioring Coordinator, because he was kind enough
to bring his equipment to the conference and I attached some photos. Hope
this helps.

Danielle

From: Erick Burres [mailto:eburres@waterboards.ca.gov]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 4:41 PM
To: charles@crwa.org; Danielle Donkersloot
Cc: jwood@crwa.org
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Experiences with basket samplers?

The Clean Water Team drafted an article on how to make the bucket sampler
but the newsletter was never created. During lunch I put together this
draft SOP (196 KB pdf file). The bucket is out on loan so I had to use some old pictures I
found. If this is helpful please let me know. Perhaps it can be made
better and included on the CWT Website.

Erick Burres
Citizen Monitoring Coordinator
SWRCB-SWAMP-Clean Water Team

eburres@waterboards.ca.gov

Desk (213) 576-6788
Cell (213) 712-6862
Fax (213) 576-6686

Clean Water Team c/o LARWQCB
320 W 4th Street
Suite200
Los Angeles, CA 90013

From: Erick Burres [mailto:eburres@waterboards.ca.gov]
Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2009 10:30 PM
To: charles@crwa.org; Danielle.Donkersloot@dep.state.nj.us
Cc: jwood@crwa.org
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Experiences with basket samplers?

If you would like to view the entire SWAMP Field Methods Course or refer
people to a video, here is the Course's link,
http://water101.waterboards.ca.gov/swamp/qapp_advisor/FieldMethods/start.htm
l.

We would like to update the CD but is has been of a low priority and there
just aren't any funds to do so. It hasalso been a struggle to get the Course
online and advertised. Fortunately it was included in the SWAMP QA Advisor.
The Advisor can also help your group prepare QAPPs, its inclusion of the
Course has been kept quite.

Sincerely,

Erick Burres
Citizen Monitoring Coordinator
SWRCB- Clean Water Team

Visit the Clean Water Team at:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/nps/volunteer.htm

From: Charles River Watershed Assoc. [mailto:charles@crwa.org]
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 3:26 PM
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] Experiences with basket samplers?

We’ve created a different type of sampler using a metal basket, based on a MassDEP prototype. I’ve also
attached a photo of the sampler we are currently piloting.

Thanks,

Rebecca Scibek Wickham

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