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San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department <br /> Recommended Groundwater Sampling Guidelines <br /> San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department(EHD) is providing these guidelines to increase the confidence <br /> and reliability of the groundwater sample results. Variance from these guidelines may result in a lower confidence level <br /> and results may not be recognized as representative of actual site conditions. <br /> Recommended Procedures <br /> 1. The casing caps should be removed from all the monitoring wells and adequate time should be provided to <br /> allow the water level to stabilize. All wells should be measured for depth to water(DTW)and total depth(TD) <br /> prior to purging the wells. A water/oil interface probe should be used when free product is suspected. Field <br /> notes should include the condition of the well in and around the traffic box, stove pipe, well seal'protection, <br /> obvious odors, general site conditions and weather conditions. All requested data should be collected in field <br /> notes and included in subsequent reports. <br /> 2. Wells should be*purged using either a pump that minimally disturbs groundwater or by hand bailing using a <br /> bailer. At least three to five casing volumes should be purged,using DTW and TD measurements to calculate <br /> casing volume, or until water from the well water from the well has been shown to be stabilized, using ph, <br /> temperature and electrical conductivity data gathered at frequent intervals before and during the purging <br /> process. <br /> 3. Purging instruments should be decontaminated between wells by thorough cleaning and rinsing between <br /> sampling to prevent cross contamination or the introduction of cleaning agents. <br /> 4. After the appropriate volume of water is removed and before a sample is collected, another DTW measurement <br /> should be taken and recorded. If the well has not recovered to 80%of the original depth, within a reasonable <br /> amount of time (<1 hour) a sample may be collected. The recharge condition should be noted in the field <br /> notes. <br /> 5. Wells should be sampled in the order of the cleanest well to the most contaminated well, if prior information is <br /> available. <br /> 6. Volatile, semi-volatile or non-volatile samples should be collected in the appropriate pre-chilled containers for <br /> the analysis requested. If no preservative is used,then the samples must be analyzed within 7 calendar days of <br /> the date sampling. If preservative is used samples must be completely analyzed within 14 days of the date of <br /> the date of sampling. <br /> 7. Samples should be collected using a bailer or a pump. During sample collection,the volatile sample container <br /> should be filled with no observable air bubbles. No headspace should be present in the sample container once <br /> the container has been capped. To avoid dilution of the preservative, sample containers should not be <br /> overfilled. Samples should be collected to minimize contact with the atmosphere to prevent the loss of volatile <br /> constituents from the sample. When appropriate travel blanks should be collected. <br /> 8. The samples should be stored in an insulated ice chest cooled with ice to ensure that the samples achieve 4°C. <br /> 9. Chain of Custody forms must be complete. Mail couriers must also be noted on the chain of custody and <br /> supported with documentation. Chain of Custody forms must be legible. Notation should be made on the <br /> chain of custody by the receiving lab indicating the condition and temperature of the samples. <br /> Iā€”pumps used for purging or sampling collection should have good flow controllability to permit low flow rate,<100 <br /> milliliter per minute,for sampling volatile chemical constituents. Pumps should be simple to operate,durable,portable, <br /> cleanable and should minimize the physical and chemical disturbance of the groundwater to avoid conditions which <br /> would interfere with the collection of a representative sample. <br /> For more information,please contact the site mitigation unit at(209)468-3449. <br />