Drinking Water Monitoring - The Drinking Water - page 192

Whirl-Pak® Bags
1. Label the bag with the site number, date, and time.
2. Tear off the top of the bag along the perforation above the wire tab
just prior to sampling. Avoid touching the inside of the bag. If you
accidentally touch the inside of the bag, use another one.
3. When wading, try to disturb as little bottom sediment as possible.
In any case, be careful not to collect water that contains bottom sedi-
ment. Stand facing upstream. Collect the water sample in front of
you. By boat, carefully reach over the side and collect the water sam-
ple on the upstream side of the boat.
4. Hold the two white pull tabs in each hand and lower the bag into the
water on your upstream side with the opening facing upstream. Open
the bag midway between the surface and the bottom by pulling the
white pull tabs. The bag should begin to fill with water. You may need
to scoop water into the bag by drawing it through the water upstream
and away from you. Fill the bag no more than three-quarters full!
5. Lift the bag out of the water. Pour out excess water. Pull on the wire
tabs to close the bag. Continue holding the wire tabs and flip the bag
over at least four to five times quickly to seal the bag. Do not try to
squeeze the air out of the top of the bag. Fold the ends of the bag, being
careful not to puncture the bag. Twist them together, forming a loop.
6. Fill in the bag number and site number on the appropriate field data
sheet. This is important , as it is the only way the lab specialist will
know which bag goes with which site.
7. If samples are to be analyzed in a lab, place the sample in a cooler
with ice or cold packs. Take all samples to the lab.
For Screw-Cap Bottles
To collect water samples using screw-cap sample bottles, use the following
procedures (see Figure 10.2 ):
1. Label the bottle with the site number, date, and time.
2. Remove the cap from the bottle just before sampling. Avoid touching
the inside of the bottle or the cap. If you accidentally touch the inside
of the bottle, use another one.
3. When wading, try to disturb as little bottom sediment as possible. In
any case, be careful not to collect water that has sediment from bot-
tom disturbance. Stand facing upstream. Collect the water sample
on your upstream side, in front of you. You may also tape your bottle
to an extension pole to sample from deeper water. By boat, carefully
reach over the side and collect the water sample on the upstream
side of the boat.