River Sampling Methods
1. Where to sample
a. Generally you will sample from a bridge. The best place to
sample is from the middle of the bridge. BE CAREFUL OF
TRAFFIC. You also want to sample on the downstream side of
the bridge, so the sampling bucket does not get washed under
the bridge.
2. Equipment List
a.
b.
c.
d.
Bucket and rope
YSI temp and salinity sensor
Cooler with ice
Bottles: TA, DIC, CDOM (brown glass), nutrient vials (green
or purple caps), DOC bottle
e. Filters: Millex filters for DOC and CDOM, nutrient filter
cartridge
f. Mercuric chloride for preserving TA and DIC samples
g. Chloroform for preserving nutrient samples
h. Sharpie
3. Getting river water
a. Rinse the bucket with three separate bucketfuls of river water.
Do not put your hands into the water, as this can contaminate
samples.
4. Unfiltered samples
a. Rinse each sample bottle 3 times before filling.
b. TA/DIC- Fill almost full, leaving a very small (less than 1%)
headspace at the top of the bottle. Preserve with 1 drop of
mercuric chloride. Chill soon after sampling
5. Filtered samples
a. CDOM- Use syringe to filter water through Millex filter
cartridge. Rinse bottle 3 times with a few mL of sample before
filling bottle at least half full. No preservative needed. Chill
soon after sampling.
b. DOC- Same as CDOM, but fill DOC vial 90% full. No
preservative needed. Chill soon after sampling
c. Nutrients- Syringe filter through nutrient filter cartridge into
nutrient vial. Rinse vial 3 times with a few mL of sample
before filling bottle ~85% full. Preserve with 2 drops
chloroform. Chill soon after sampling.
6. Temperature and salinity
a. Take a fresh bucketful of water, and place YSI probe into the
bucket. Let it soak at least 1 minute before recording the
reading.
7. Data logs
a. At each station please record station #, location or lat/long,
time, water temperature, conductivity, salinity, samples
collected, and any notes.