CMA is the exclusive nation-wide provider of two industry-leading technologies for groundwater-surface water assessment. The UltraSeep meter quantifies discharge rates and contaminant fluxes with unprecedented accuracy in both tidal and non-tidal environments. Use of the Trident Probe enables us to rapidly map and characterize groundwater discharge zones through integrated temperature, conductivity, and porewater sampling.
These patent-protected systems — developed and refined through years of extensive field work — are the basis for CMA's unique capability. Because our core technologies are patent-protected, clients and prime contractors have a legitimate basis for sole-source procurement, streamlining the contracting process while ensuring access to our unique capabilities.
The UltraSeep system is an integrated seepage meter and water sampling system for quantifying discharge rates and chemical loading from groundwater flow to coastal waters.
Traditional seepage technology was modified and improved to include automated multiple sample collection and continuous flow detection with ultrasonic flow meters. The resultant instrument makes direct measurements of advective flux and contaminant concentration at a particular location.
The data produced are time series, over tidal cycles, of groundwater flow, contaminant concentration, and associated sensor data. This allows an accurate determination of the presence or absence of groundwater flow and associated contaminant flux from a terrestrial site into a bay or estuary.
The Trident Probe is a direct-push, integrated temperature sensor, conductivity sensor, grain-size sensor, and porewater sampler developed to screen sites for areas where groundwater may be discharging to a surface water body.
Differences in observed conductivity and temperature indicate areas where groundwater discharge is occurring. The integral porewater sampler can be used to rapidly confirm the presence of groundwater constituents and map the subsurface distribution of contaminants of concern.
The Trident Probe enables rapid, cost-effective site screening across large areas, providing targeted information to guide more intensive investigation and sampling efforts.
For challenging bottom conditions — coarse substrate, high-current environments, and hard-bottom sites — the Trident Probe can be deployed on CMA-engineered custom drive frames built for specific site requirements, including the 600-lb frame deployed at the Hanford Site.
Water-sampling and level-logging piezometer systems provide the capability for monitoring sub-surface chemistry and near-shore hydraulic gradients in coastal systems.
Networks of piezometers can provide both short- and long-term assessment of hydraulic and chemical gradients, enabling characterization of groundwater flow paths and contaminant transport at complex sites.
CMA deploys a range of passive, equilibrium-based samplers to measure contaminant concentrations directly within porewater and groundwater discharge zones. By allowing target compounds to accumulate on the sampling medium over time, these devices yield time-integrated, freely-dissolved concentration data that better represents true exposure conditions than conventional grab sampling.
Our passive sampling toolkit spans polyethylene devices (PEDs) for hydrophobic organic contaminants such as PAHs and PCBs, diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) for metals and other inorganics, and solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and diffusion/peeper samplers for volatile organics and a broad range of porewater applications. Deployed individually or in combination, these methods provide sensitive, low-disturbance characterization of contaminant flux at the groundwater–surface water interface.
CMA can provide access to some of the most advanced tools for characterizing sediment and groundwater discharge sites, including:
Alongside these advanced systems, CMA maintains conventional sediment sampling equipment, including Petite Ponar, Shipek, and Van Veen grab samplers for surface sediment collection, deployable from small vessels or by divers in shallow-water environments.
Contact us to discuss how our proprietary tools can be deployed to address your specific site assessment challenges.
Contact Us