Water samples - Suspended sediment concentration - Automatic Sampler (MAXX)
Parameter to be measured:
Water samples, e.g. to determine suspended sediment concentrations
Method:
Automatic sampler
Equipment:
Portable MAXX P6L Vacuum sampler
Advantages:
- Sampling can be triggered by logger or internal program
- Connection to PC via USB allows for quick data download
- Different sample volumes can be taken, also through serial samples (e.g. three 300 ml samples to make one 900 ml sample)
Disadvantages:
- Sampling takes some time, e.g., one sample consisting of three serial 300 ml samples takes approximately 1 ½ minutes (if the suction tube is short)
- As water has some time to settle in the dosing unit before it is released into the sample bottle, we have observed that fine sediments accumulate at the walls of the dosing unit (the part of the sampler, where the water is collected first and which determines the water volume)
What to watch out for:
Problems/Questions:
- If problems occur with the ventilation of the dosing unit, the sample is only partly released into the sample bottle. If this occurs and some water may remains in the dosing unit, the sample volume is too small in case of serial samples or parts of one sample are transferred to the next.
- The tube that connects the dosing unit to the sample bottles is squeezed by a small rotatable arm to close. If the sampler has not been used for some time, the tube tends stay in the squeezed position and not open completely. As a consequence, the dosing unit is often not emptied entirely (as above).
Price:
Approximate price (in € or US$) with year and country of purchase Ca. 3500 € per sampler (2019, Germany)
Links
Projects that used the above equipment: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/umwelt/forschung/ag-hydrologie-und-klimatologie/forschungsprojekte/hydrologie-und-sedimentdynamik-in-hochalpinen-gebieten
Other related web sites:
References
https://maxx-gmbh.com/english/produkte_tragbar_p6_l_vakuum.htm