Concrete anchors are required to “hold-down” the probe thereby allowing necessary down force to advance the tooling since the hand cart is a “stand-alone” unit and the only down force of the probe is the weight of the unit itself. Four concrete anchors are necessary at each of the sampling locations to anchor the brackets that wrap over the “foot” of the hand cart. Additionally, due to the weight of the unit, it can not be lowered or raised up/down steps to get to a lower level of a building unless an elevator is available.

No. The hand cart is connected to a gasoline powered hydraulic pump via hoses where the pump is typically located outside of the building.

Depending upon the soil types encountered and the quality of the concrete floor, the hand cart has been able to collect soil samples to depths of 30 feet below floor level.

Yes. Monitoring wells measuring 1” in diameter or less can be installed through the sample rods of the hand cart. Obviously depending upon overhead clearances within the building, if 10-foot lengths of PVC well materials can not be used, 5-foot lengths can be.

• Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) for volatile organic aromatics (VOAs) and special target compounds
• GC/MS for semi-volatile organics (SVAs) and special target compounds
• GC analysis for:
  • PCBs
  • Pesticides
  • Petroleum through lube oil range hydrocarbons
  • Explosives
• Special target compounds
• HPLC analysis for target list compounds
• Non-routine analysis (given the time to develop a valid procedure)
• Conventional analysis of field samples: pH, flash point, solubility, etc.
• Compatibility analysis to characterize unknowns

Data Quality Objective (DQO) Levels I – III. DQO Level IV (CLP style reports) are not typically available if the CLP forms are required. Level IV can be provided if the CLP forms are not a project requirement.

Most of the organic analytical procedures in EPA Method SW-846 require a second confirmatory technique for the analyses performed or confirmation of the results by GC/MS.Yes, on a limited basis depending on the format required.

Sample throughput depends on the analysis being performed.

VOAs

• Typically the lab can turn 15-20 VOAs in a given day plus QA/QC. The assumption here is that the samples come into the lab in a reasonable time frame. This does not include reruns or blanks because of highly contaminated samples.
• This assumes ONE type of sample matrix, water, soil, etc. Each matrix requires its own QC unless the client buys off on less than standard QC because they only have one or two samples of a given matrix.
• One of our big benefits is that we have an autosampler which continues running after hours.

SVAs

• The number of samples analyzed in a given day depends on the sample matrix and if the sample extracts have to be concentrated to achieve low detection limits. Typically soil samples can be analyzed faster than water samples. Water samples need to be extracted with a separatory funnel and the extracts combined and concentrated.
• A fair rule of thumb for GC/MS is 12-15 samples per day plus QA/QC for full extraction and 15-20 if “quick and dirty” analysis will work.
• Again, a big benefit is the use of autosamplers.

GC

• The number of samples analyzed will vary with the analytical parameters requested and the length of the analytical run. A good guesstimate of samples per day is 15. Sample throughput will depend on the analysis being requested and if the data quality objectives of the project require second column confirmation of target compound hits.