What do you do when your Pneumatic Pump is properly connected, yet there is no sample discharge? A simple 'trick' is to submerge the sample discharge line into a clear container of water. During the drive cycle you should see bubbles. An aggressive blast of bubbles can mean that there is no water available, while a steady mild bubbling indicates that the pump is operating and sample water is on the way up.

Once sample water is being discharged, you can adjust the flow rate using a pump controller. Make sure that your controller has easy to follow pre-set pumping options, such as the Solinst Electronic Control Units. This helps take the guesswork out of determining suitable drive and vent times for your Integra® Bladder Pump or Double Valve Pump.

Determining the amount of applied pumping pressure to retrieve a sample is simple. 1 psi of pressure can raise a 2.3 ft column of water, this is about half of the column height of water in feet, expressed as psi. If a Bladder Pump's intake is at 100 ft below ground surface, you will require approximately 50 psi of pressure to get a sample. When sampling with a Double Valve Pump, this calculation is made from ground level to static water level (as a minimum, but can be made from total pump depth to maximize purging rates). Therefore, if a Double Valve Pump is 100 ft below ground surface, and static water level is at 50 ft, you can select a pressure of between 25 and 50 psi. In both cases, add an extra 10 psi to allow for line loss.