Hi, What do you need to ...

Hi,

What do you need to know? This is a simple question but the answer could fill a text book. What is your end goal(s)? That will help determine what protocols to follow with regards to sample collection, preservation, transportation, and analyses. These protocols have been developed for legal reasons to preserve the fidelity of the sample and to be able to defend the lab results in court if needed. I can provide you with working instructions, etc but I first need to know your situation.

I agree with Hasan's recommendations. Be sure to consult your local laboratories before sending them samples; go visit the facilities and look at their equipment. How old is it? What are the detection limits (how low of concentrations can they reliably report)? You can also measure some of these parameters yourself in the field which maybe more cost effective, but then you are responsible for making sure the equipment is calibrated and giving you a reproducible measurement.

As for software, what do you want to know? There are simple excel sheet that help you determine natural attenuation, or runs stats. Most consultants plug the lab results into a database of some sort and publish results in tables (PDF of MS Excel sheets) and often there is manual data entry or at the very least data QA/QC. Plotting the results on a map is good for mapping out concentrations but setting up the software can be a hassle. I can provide more details if you want.

Marie