U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Version: October 1997 FS-112-97

Technology Transfer Opportunities:

Automated Ground-Water

Monitoring

Introduction

A new automated ground-water monitoring 

system developed by the U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) measures and records values 

of selected water-quality properties and 

constituents using protocols approved for 

manual sampling. Prototypes using the 

automated process have demonstrated the 

ability to increase the quantity and quality of 

data collected and have shown the potential 

for reducing labor and material costs for 

ground-water quality data collection. 

Automation of water-quality monitoring 

systems in the field, in laboratories, and in 

industry have increased data density and 

utility while reducing operating costs. Uses 

for an automated ground-water monitoring 

system include, (but are not limited to) 

monitoring ground-water quality for research, 

monitoring known or potential contaminant 

sites, such as near landfills, underground 

storage tanks, or other facilities where 

potential contaminants are stored, and as an 

early warning system monitoring groundwater quality near public water-supply wells.

About the Invention

The automated monitoring process is 

designed to: provide reliable data indicating 

ground-water quality, follow proven groundwater sampling protocols, regulate its 

performance through system feedback, and 

communicate data and system performance 

through remote communications. Changes in 

properties such as water temperature, specific 

conductance, and pH can indicate changes in 

ground-water quality. Therefore, a record of 

relatively frequent measurements of waterquality properties and/or constituents 

collected at a monitoring site can indicate 

when ground-water quality is changing and 

can put laboratory analysis of periodic 

discrete samples into context. The process is 

designed to meet rigorous ground-water 

sampling protocols developed by the USGS 

National Water-Quality Assessment 

Program that require monitoring and 

recording water-quality properties and 

constituents in water pumped from the well 

or multilevel sampler until purge criteria 

have been met. The automated monitoring 

process utilizes feedback to monitor the 

status of the system and to record and 

communicate problems if an error is 

detected. The ability of the automated 

system to respond to or initiate 

communications allows human operators to 

check the system or monitor ground-water 

quality from a remote site without costly 

field visits.

A prototype using automated monitoring 

process operated successfully between May 

10 and November 13, 1996, and sufficient 

quality assurance/quality control data were 

collected to demonstrate that the data 

obtained by the automated method was 

equivalent to data obtained by manual 

sampling methods using the same protocols. 

The automated monitoring system 

successfully documented short term changes 

in hydrologic and geochemical conditions 

resulting from the discharge of the sewage 

plant effluent, and also documented waterquality trends as the ground-water system 

began to recover from the discharge.

Advantages

The USGS automated ground-water 

monitoring system provides high-quality 
Version: October 1997 FS-112-97

data on a real time basis with enough detail to 

detect the abrupt arrival of pollutants and to 

statistically indicate the existence of trends in 

water quality. This new process is better than 

available methods because:

• This system purges the well before 

acquiring final values. Although it is 

generally recognized that the quality of 

water within a well, and in close 

proximity to the well, is probably not 

representative of ground-water quality in 

the aquifer, available ground-water 

quality monitoring systems use passive 

monitoring devices suspended in a 

monitoring well.

• This system uses proven sampling 

protocols expected for manual sampling, 

and yet does not incur high labor and 

laboratory costs for each measurement 

because samples are only collected when 

necessary.

• The high quality of records obtained is 

facilitated by system feedback loops and 

the remote communication capability of 

the system. Detection of trends or abrupt 

changes in water quality can prompt a 

site visit for manual calibration, check 

measurements, and testing. System 

operators can respond to real changes in 

ground-water quality, or perform system 

maintenance depending upon results of 

the manual field measurements.

Patent Status

A patent application has been submitted on 

this process and apparatus. It is now available 

for licensing.

For More Information

For more information about licensing of this 

and other patents and for cooperative 

research opportunities with the USGS please 

contact:

Technology Enterprise Office

U.S. Geological Survey

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 211

Reston, VA 22092

Tel: (703) 648-4450

Fax: (703) 648-4408

Email: tto@www.usgs.gov

Web Page:

http://www.usgs.gov/tech-transfer/

For information about the technical details 

of this invention please contact the 

inventors:

Kirk P. Smith

email: kpsmith@usgs.gov

Gregory E. Granato

email: ggranato@usgs.gov

U.S. Geological Survey

Water Resources Division

Massachusetts, Rhode Island District

28 Lord Road, Suite 280

Marlborough, MA 01752

(508) 490-5055

(508) 490-5068

Web Page: 

http://mass1.er.usgs.gov/automated1/p1index.html