Project Number:
DNR-114
Other Project Number:
WR94R012
Funding Year:
1994
Contract Period:
Funding Source:
DNR
Investigator(s) and affiliations:
Jack Connelly, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources;
Hank Kuehling, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Abstract:
Abstract: The state of Wisconsin has more than 10,000 groundwater monitoring wells that will continue to be sampled into the future. Most samplers in this state use a bailer to purge and sample these wells. The EPA has questioned the use of a bailer for volatile organic compound (VOC) sampling because of the potential to increase sample aeration and cause significantly more turbidity than using a low flow pumping method.
A total of nine monitoring wells that had a history of VOC contamination were sampled at three landfills. The wells were sampled using both a low flow pump and bailer in the summer of 1994 and again in the following winter.
Generally, only small differences were found between the VOC results collected using the low flow pumping and the bailing techniques. In addition, the method resulting in higher recovery of organic compounds differed, depending on the particular well, season, and compound.