USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

U.S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 95-399

Ground-Water Data-Collection Protocols and Procedures for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program: Collection and Documentation of Water-Quality Samples and Related Data

By Michael T. Koterba, Franceska D. Wilde, and Wayne W. Lapham

Abstract

Protocols for ground-water sampling are described in a report written in 1989 as part of the pilot program for the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). These protocols have been reviewed and revised to address the needs of the full-scale implementation of the NAWQA Program that began in 1991. This report, which is a collaborative effort between the NAWQA Program and the USGS Office of Water Quality, is the result of that review and revision.

This report describes protocols and recommended procedures for the collection of water-quality samples and related data from wells for the NAWQA Program. Protocols and recommended procedures discussed include (1) equipment setup and other preparations for data collection; (2) well purging and field measurements; (3) collecting and processing ground-water-quality samples; (4) equipment decontamination; (5) quality-control sampling; and (6) sample handling and shipping.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Abstract

Introduction

Background

Purpose and scope

Quality assurance and quality control

Acknowledgments

Collection and documentation of water-quality samples and related data

Data-quality requirements

Plans and preparations

• Site visits
• Selection and purchase of equipment and supplies
  • Pump systems
  • Field instruments
  • Water-quality vehicles
  • Storage facilities
  • Timing of purchases
• Training
• Field evaluation
• Design of ground-water-quality sampling schedules
• Design of quality-control sampling and schedules
  • Routine quality-control-samples: type, number, site selection, and timing
  • Example of routine quality-control design: a case study
  • Topical quality-control samples
• Sample coding and data management
• Final presampling plans and preparations

Field protocols and recommended procedures

• Equipment setup
• Well purging, grab samples, and field measurements
  • Acceptable deviations from standard purge protocols
  • Purging with different flow rates
  • Purging different types of wells
  • Grab samples for titrations and volatile-sample preservation
  • Final assessment of chemical stability
• Sample collection and processing
  • Field-team functions
  • Special considerations for selected sample types
• Decontamination of field equipment
• Preparation of blank samples
• Preparation of other routine quality-control samples and field extracts of pesticide samples
  • Pesticide and volatile-organic-compound (VOC) spiked samples
  • Pesticide solid-phase extractions
  • VOC trip-blank and trace-element standard reference samples
• Handling and shipping of samples

References cited

Appendix. Examples of field forms for the collection of ground-water data and samples for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program

Errata for Open-File Report 95-399

This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the Adobe Reader, it is available for free download from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Download the report (PDF, .8 MB)

Document Accessibility: Adobe Systems Incorporated has information about PDFs and the visually impaired. This information provides tools to help make PDF files accessible. These tools convert Adobe PDF documents into HTML or ASCII text, which then can be read by a number of common screen-reading programs that synthesize text as audible speech. In addition, an accessible version of Adobe Reader 8.0 for Windows (English only), which contains support for screen readers, is available. These tools and the accessible reader may be obtained free from Adobe at Adobe Access.

For further information about this report, contact the National Water-Quality Assessment Program office.

AccessibilityFOIAPrivacyPolicies and Notices
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Persistent URL: http://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/1995/ofr-95-399/ Page Contact Information: USGS Publishing Network Last modified: Wednesday, December 07 2016, 03:59:30 PM

---