Future of The Environmental Services Industry

Electronic Chain of Custody and Matching  Bar Code  Sample Bottle Labels.  Arriving Summer 2014! "Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways  or calling each other at  10:30  at night with a new idea, or  because they realized something that shoots holes in how  we've   been thinking about a problem" - Steve Jobs In our endless - and I do mean endless - pursuit of improving our application, we have begun work on the "next big thing." We call it our electronic chain of custody (ECOC). I mentioned this concept about a year ago and now we have begun programming work on this new feature. Here's how it works: The project manager defines the project sampling scope, just as they have done in the past. Once the scope is agreed upon by the pertinent parties, the scope will be finalized, and at that point sample bottle labels with unique identifying bar codes can be printed along with an associated  preliminary chain of custody. Onc

Groundwater Elevation and Contaminant Levels, Correlation, or Causation.    How can you tell? "The obvious is that which is never seen until someone  expresses it simply." -Kahlil Gibran Over the years I've heard a lot of explanations regarding groundwater elevations and subsequent increases and/or decreases in contaminant levels and the presence and disappearance of free product. I've heard people argue that increasing water levels increase contamination, and I've also heard the opposite. Some people believe that increasing water levels causes free product to disappear and that decreasing levels cause it to re-appear (which is counter-intuitive to a lay person). The question or debate is (all other things being equal): does groundwater elevation have an effect on contaminant levels? Furthermore, does groundwater elevation have an effect on the presence or absence of free product? These are a question of correlation or causation. I've been d

"You can't help but... with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say,   Look, had we done something different, we probably   wouldn't be facing what we are facing today." - Norman Schwarzkopf Selecting a remedial approach can be a complicated task. The process is based on identifying desired clean-up goals, sensitive issues that could affect a remediation strategy (e.g. proximity to drinking water wells, surface waters, other sensitive receptors or public perception/relations), and  costs. Each site presents different decisions and uncertainties regarding remediation options. However, the process of deciding which corrective action to take should be relatively the same at each site. The four main steps are 1) delineation, 2) risk evaluation, 3) feasibility, and 4) cost.  The individual parameters and details of each step will differ for each site, but the process will be the same.The companies that understand the process and also work to keep it simple end up selec

  "Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." -- Benjamin Franklin One of our specialties at SampleServe.com is sampling groundwater. As such, we have used a variety of types of pumps in a multitude of makes and models. In this article I am going to tell you about two 12-volt stainless steel centrifugal pumps I've used and explain why I like one over the other. The two pumps I am reviewing are the  Geotech SS Geosub 12 VDC Sampling Pump  and the  Proactive Stainless Steel Hurricane® XL .  I am not aware of any other makers of "stainless steel" environmental 12-volt pumps sold in the US. There are plastic 12-volt pumps; however, plastic pumps are not part of my evaluation. I've had the opportunity to use both of these pumps at length. I used the Geosub Pump  recently on a  large project in Ohio and sampled approximately 30 - 40 wells with the pump. The pump performed fine without any maintenance or operational problems.