Water Quality Monitoring
by: Sebastien Fortin, E.I.T., M.Sc.
Overview
Groundwater quality monitoring can be performed at any stage of mining for different objectives. Prior to initiation of mining, groundwater quality can be sampled and/or monitored to gather background data of natural site conditions. Groundwater quality can also be monitored during mining to determine mining impact on the surrounding environment and/or for compliance monitoring. Groundwater quality must also be examined with scrutiny following mine closure for meeting compliance criteria as well as for assessing the performance of closure measures.
Groundwater quality sampling and groundwater quality monitoring are two terms that are often used interchangeably and it is perhaps important to point out they in fact relate to different activities. Groundwater "sampling" refers to the action of extracting/collecting, containerizing, and preserving a volume of groundwater either from a monitoring well, during drilling, from a spring or any other potential source of groundwater, in most cases for the purpose of sending the sample to an analytical laboratory. In comparison, groundwater quality "monitoring" refers to the determination of physico-chemical parameters inherent to a body of groundwater using measuring probes without necessarily collecting a sample for analysis.
There exist a vast array of groundwater sampling techniques varying in degrees of performance and complexity and relative unit cost. While groundwater quality sampling is typically performed by pumping water from monitoring wells, sampling can also be performed at any time during drilling or can also be performed in-situ by direct-push methods. Groundwater can also be sampled in underground mines where groundwater flows through drain holes. Sampling of a monitoring well is likely the most controlled/regulated sampling method and several standard sampling protocols were developed by North American regulatory agencies over the years.
This paper presents a summary of the following groundwater quality sampling methods of current use in North America:
The selection of any given groundwater sampling method will depend on factors such as particular project objectives, relative cost, drilling method, site location, etc...
The following sections discuss in more detail the various methods for water quality sampling presented above. A list of References on water quality sampling is available for the reader interested in digging deeper into the details of the methods presented above.
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