Soil sampling equipment falls into one of two categories – equipment that is manually operated and equipment that is deployed using a portable drive source, or a direct-push or drilling rig. Most soil sampling equipment is designed and built to be reused, so it is a common practice to deploy the same soil sampling equipment at multiple sampling locations. This is certainly convenient, but introduces the potential for cross-contamination of sampling locations and individual samples, both of which may affect the representative nature of samples collected. To prevent this potentially very serious and costly problem, it is critical to implement thorough and effective field equipment cleaning protocols. This module discusses in detail field equipment cleaning protocols that apply to equipment used for sampling soil, both sample-contacting equipment and equipment that facilitates sample collection but doesn’t contact the sample. Learn how decontamination procedures may vary according to the sampling equipment being used and by the contaminants being analyzed in samples. Discover why a few of the “detergents” commonly used for field equipment cleaning should be avoided for some field applications because they may contain phosphates, and why others may introduce trace amounts of semi-volatile compounds if not diluted sufficiently. You will also learn important terminology such as the differences between portable, dedicated, designated and disposable field equipment.

Module SS-04 (Total Length: 68 minutes) Price: $159.00 Sign in to Your E-School Account to Register

Field Equipment Decontamination Procedures for Soil Sampling

• Purposes of Field Equipment Decontamination
• Considerations for Selection of an Effective Field Decontamination Protocol
• Discussion of ASTM Standards D 5088 and D 5608 on Field Equipment Decontamination
• Control Water – Understanding the Term and How it Affects Decon Water Selection for Various Contaminants and Equipment
• Dedicated vs. Designated vs. Portable vs. Disposable Equipment – Understanding the Differences and Building Them Into Your Cleaning Protocols
• Problems Associated With Using Chemical Desorbing Agents
• QA/QC Elements of Equipment Cleaning Programs
• Avoiding Common Errors in the Field During Equipment Cleaning

Total CEUs for Module SS-04: 1.1 CEUs

You think your sampling team does a good job in the field, but how can you be sure, and have the confidence that the results they produce are valid and defensible? With many soil sampling programs, it is not unusual to have more than one sampling team, sometimes from more than one company, in the field collecting soil samples. When this is the case, you want to make sure the data generated in the field and in the laboratory are comparable. How do you do that? With sound field QA/QC procedures! Learn how to ensure that your sampling practices are technically and legally defensible and how to prove to outside groups and auditors that the data being generated during a sampling event can be validated. This module explains in detail how to implement an effective field QA/QC program designed for soil sampling, how to select the most meaningful QC samples for soil samples, how to correctly collect the chosen QC samples, how many to collect, and how to interpret the results.

Module SS-05 (Total Length: 41 minutes) Price: $159.00 Sign in to Your E-School Account to Register

Field Quality Assurance/Quality Control Practices for Soil Sampling

• Understanding the Difference Between Quality Assurance and Quality Control
• Why Field QA/QC is so Important and How Much QA/QC do You Need?
• Determining Which QC Samples Should be Used for Soil Sampling and Why
• Selecting Parameters to Run on QC Samples
• Detailed Discussions of the Types of QC Samples to Incorporate Into a Soil Sampling Event
• How to Correctly Collect QC Samples for Soil While Avoiding Common Errors in the Field
• Determining How Many QC Samples to Collect

Total CEUs for Module SS-05: 1 CEU