U.S. Geological Survey

National Water-Quality Assessment Program

Ground-Water Data-Collection Protocols and Procedures for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program: Collection and Documentation of Water-Quality Samples and Related Data

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-399

CONTENTS

• Background
  
• Purpose and scope
  
• Quality assurance and quality control
  
• Acknowledgments
  

• Data-quality requirements
  
• Plans and preparations
  
  • Site visits
    
  • Selection and purchase of equipment and supplies
    
    • Pump systems
      
    • Field instruments
      
    • Water-quality vehicles
      
    • Storage facilities
      
    • Timing of purchases
      
  • Training
    
  • Field evaluation
    
  • Design of ground-water-quality sampling schedules
    
  • Design of quality-control sampling and schedules
    
    • Routine quality-control-samples: type, number, site selection, and timing
      
    • Example of routine quality-control design: a case study
      
    • Topical quality-control samples
      
  • Sample coding and data management
    
  • Final presampling plans and preparations
    
• Field protocols and recommended procedures
  
  • Equipment setup
    
  • Well purging, grab samples, and field measurements
    
    • Acceptable deviations from standard purge protocols
      
    • Purging with different flow rates
      
    • Purging different types of wells
      
    • Grab samples for titrations and volatile-sample preservation
      
    • Final assessment of chemical stability
      
  • Sample collection and processing
    
    • Field-team functions
      
    • Special considerations for selected sample types
      
  • Decontamination of field equipment
    
  • Preparation of blank samples
    
  • Preparation of other routine quality-control samples and field extracts of pesticide samples
    
    • Pesticide and volatile-organic-compound (VOC) spiked samples
      
    • Pesticide solid-phase extractions
      
    • VOC trip-blank and trace-element standard reference samples
      
  • Handling and shipping of samples
    

ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Distribution of wells selected for pesticide field spikes in relation to the major-ion composition of (A) natural and agriculturally affected ground-waters, and (B) ground-water samples in which pesticides were detected in the Delmarva Peninsula
   
2. Schematic of equipment setup for well purge and sample collection

TABLES

1. Summary of current (1995) required, recommended, and optional water- quality constituents to be measured in the three ground-water components of the Occurrence and Distribution Assessment, National Water-Quality Assessment Program
   
2. Information to obtain when planning water-quality data-collection activities
   
3. Equipment, supplies, and suppliers for ground-water-quality sampling for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
   
4. Example of a method to determine pump-system suitability as a function of selected well and pump characteristics
   
5. Requirements for meters and sensors used for field measurements taken at ground-water-quality sites of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
   
6. Recommended sequence of training-related activities to prepare for National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program ground-water- quality data collection
   
7. Example of a sampling schedule for a 28-well Land-Use Study
   
8. Basic considerations in designing annual ground-water-quality sampling schedules for Study-Unit components of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
   
9. Requirements for the design of National Water-Quality Assessment Program ground-water-quality sampling schedules to enhance data quality
   
10. Quality-control samples for ground-water components of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
    
11. Procedures to identify the type and schedule the annual collection of routine quality-control data for ground-water components of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
12. Required type and minimum number (or frequency) of routine quality- control samples for a Land-Use Study of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
13. Well- and site-selection criteria for routine quality-control samples collected for ground-water components of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
14. Sample container coding requirements for ground-water-quality and routine quality-control samples of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
    
15. Storage and coding requirements for ground-water-quality and quality-control samples and data of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
16. Activities related to final plans and preparations before sampling begins
    
17. Initial field-team setup activities related to on-site protocols and procedures at wells used for ground-water-quality and routine quality-control data collection for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
18. Field-team activities for purging a well for water-quality and quality- control data collection
    
19. Standard protocols and recommended procedures for conducting and assessing well purging for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
20. Field-titration procedures for ground-water samples from the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
21. Collection order, processing, preservation, and field storage required for ground-water-quality and replicate samples for the National Water- Quality Assessment Program
    
22. Decontamination of small equipment used for sample collection
    
23. Decontamination of setup equipment used for sample collection
    
24. Estimation of decontamination solution volumes for standpipe and sample-wetted tubing
    
25. Field-blank sample-collection protocols and procedures for ground-water components of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
    
26. Sample handling for shipment of ground-water-quality and quality-control samples