New Campbell Water Quality Samplers

We are pleased to announce that Campbell Scientific has acquired the Sirco line of water samplers from Southwell Corporation in Canada. Sirco samplers have a 30-year history of successful operation in storm-water, wastewater, and other water-quality applications. As stand-alone water samplers, these products already meet a variety of sampling needs. As we integrate them with our existing data-acquisition, telemetry, and sensor products, we will provide even more solutions for monitoring and control applications


Our search for a high-quality water sampler began a couple of years ago and it didn’t take long to find Sirco samplers. After distributing them for a while, we decided to make them a permanent addition to our product line as Campbell Scientific water samplers. The acquisition was finalized earlier this year, and we have successfully transferred the entire manufacturing operation to our headquarters in Logan, Utah.  We have been manufacturing samplers since late summer.

The future is bright for these samplers. They are already capable of being programmed on their keypad for time-based, pulse-induced, 4 to 20 mA-input, and flow-based samples. We plan to extend their usefulness even more by integrating them with rain gauges, turbidity probes, pressure transducers, and telemetry devices—on top of the power, logic, and communications protocols (e.g., Modbus, DNP3, TCP/IP) provided by our data loggers.

One of the biggest advantages of these samplers is that they use external vacuum pumps to draw water through intake tubing, instead of the traditional peristaltic pumps that induce flow by squeezing flexible tubing. Advantages of the vacuum-pump method include faster sampling rates, better vertical lifts, longer sampling distances, more-precise volume control between samples, and less maintenance. Because the vacuum method disturbs water samples less, they better represent the original water solution, especially if the solution has high concentrations of suspended solids. To prevent cross contamination, the samplers use air pressure (up to 28 psi) to purge the tubing of excess water.

 
The new product line includes many different options for both portable and stationary samplers. The PVS4150, PVS4120, and PVS4100 are portable, battery-operated water samplers. Designed for easy transport, the PVS4150 includes wheels, a telescoping handle, and a rugged case. The PVS4120 is the lightest sampler, weighing only 27 lb. The PVS4100 has a bigger pump that supports the fastest sampling rates, highest vertical lifts, and longest sampling distances. It also can use wider tubing (5/8-in. ID), which is better for handling large solids. All the portable models include space for ice to keep samples cool.

The CVS4200 and BVS4300 are stationary, ac-powered water samplers for wastewater applications. They use the same big pump as the PVS4100 and support all of its capabilities. The CVS4200 is an indoor sampler that has a corrosion-resistant steel enclosure. The BVS4300 is an outdoor sampler designed to handle extreme environments. It has a corrosion-resistant steel enclosure with a locking door and bolted-down instrument panel. All of the stationary samplers have a refrigerator option to keep the samples at the EPA-recommended temperature of 4ºC.  They can also be equipped with insulation, circulating fans, and heaters as needed.

Both composite and discrete options are available in both portable and stationary models. Composite samplers take samples, then deliver them into the same container each time. Discrete samplers collect samples and deliver them to different containers, from 500 ml to 1000 ml.
We are excited about the possibilities these samplers bring to water-quality applications.  Don’t hesitate to provide us with your input as we carry this great product line into the future.

For more information please contact Dr David Hammond on 07 4772 0444 or send him an email.

Runoff Monitoring On Sugar Cane Farms

In December 2009, the Herbert Demonstration farm site was established in the Trebonne area on Orazio and Anthony Marino’s farm.  The project is supported by DEEDI, Terrain NRM, BSES and JCU staff.  Combining environmental sustainability and profitable farming as the key drivers, this is a collaborative effort between growers, government, research and industry bodies and is part of the Queensland and Australian Government’s Reef Plan to improve water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. There are Demonstration farm sites also located in the Burdekin and Tully areas.

The Herbert Demonstration farm site has been divided into 2 sections- one section planted on a 1.6m conventional farming system and one section planted on a 1.83m controlled traffic  mound planted farming system. To date there has been 6 additional cultivations in the conventional farming system block compared to the controlled traffic mound planted block, which has attributed to a higher cost of establishment in the conventional block.  All nutrient applications to date have been identical and are based on the BSES 6 Easy Steps guidelines and in accordance with government regulations.

In the fallow period  a legume was grown on both blocks, the  legume mulched. The  controlled traffic mound planted block  was zonal tilled and the conventional block was conventionally and prepared. It is important to understand the fate of legume nitrogen under different farming practices; consequently the movement of nitrogen in the soil profile from the legume crop is being investigated for both treatments over a 12 month period.

The block has been soil mapped using electro-magnetic soils mapping equipment and ground truthed. This equipment identified 5 distinctive soil types within the block and found areas of sodic soil not previously known. Within the 5 soil types, soil sampling to depths of 1m have occurred. It was found that 2 of the 5 soil types had low levels of phosphorus (P) present; below the government guidelines for P application. To date no P applications have occurred within the block because a routine soil test taken across the block indicated that no P fertiliser applications were required.

Water sampling for nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides have occurred on the site since September, 2010. Water runoff from a number of rows in each treatment are diverted through a calibrated flume: as highlighted in the photo opposite.  Sensors and monitoring equipment collect a water sample automatically every time a certain volume of runoff passes  from the field and through the flume. The collected water samples are then sent to labs at James Cook University and Brisbane for analysis.

The cost effectiveness of the various “new” farming system practices will be assessed on the controlled traffic mound planted block and compared to the conventional block. Adopting a new farming system can bring significant capital expense. Through rigours monitoring, the Herbert demonstration farm project will assist industry gain a better understanding of the environmental, economic and social benefits of implementing new farming practices. 

The site will be continued to be monitored over the next 2 years. Trial results will be made available to industry as they become available.

For more information please contact:  Mark Whitten, DEEDI Project Officer

Tough Turf Times Require Innovative Technology to Survive

In the past few years, Melbourne councils have been required to reduce water allocations to less than 25% of previous water restrictions or to limit irrigating to one in four turf sporting grounds under strict Stage 3a restrictions. After substantial rainfall in the catchment areas, many restrictions have been eased to Stage 2 but monitoring and reporting of irrigation data for sustainable management is now considered best practise regardless. Water scarcity and waste minimisation are issues that are here to stay and councils must be seen to be decreasing water consumption in their facilities. Ground managers and curators need to adopt new initiatives to minimise irrigation waste and optimise precious resources.

The Victorian Government has recently provided $2 million worth of funding under the Sustainable Sporting Grounds Program to help sports clubs deal with the impact of increasingly stringent restrictions and future proof facilities against drought conditions.

The Minister for Sports and Recreation Hugh Delahunty says  "This program provides the cash boost needed for sports clubs to develop long term, sustainable, low water use community sporting facilities that are better equipped to deal with future climate challenges.”

Traditionally, councils have simply maintained sporting grounds to the basic standards required by sporting codes. When new restrictions were implemented, one in four playing fields were left to survive on rainfall unless the club or local council could justify having additional water provisions.

Many fields deteriorated under severe restrictions and became unplayable while demand continued to rise for these facilities. Restrictions also led to less competitive or socially disadvantaged users having less access to suitable playing fields. Increased population growth and demand for playing spaces in general have placed additional pressure on those turf based facilities that meet the criteria to benefit from an increase water allocation.

Introduced in April 2007 in metropolitan Melbourne, the policy aimed to achieve an 80% reduction in water use on sports grounds. To qualify for further water allocations, facilities need to develop a ‘Water Conservation Plan’, install water meters, centralise watering systems, audit irrigation systems and publish irrigation schedules. There was a fear that these seemingly harsh restrictions would ultimately lead to increased player injury, undermine community engagement, reduce the health and well-being in the population, and even lead to job losses in the turf industry. Councils were therefore faced with the challenge of utilising limited state and federal funding to optimise limited water allocations.

The impact of water restrictions on playing fields varies greatly depending on the local rainfall, soil types, ground conditions and intensity of activity. The need to know the soil moisture content in a variety of soils and conditions is paramount.

One way to reduce your water footprint is to stop over-watering.  Not only is it environmentally more sustainable, it will save money and produce better turf.

Many councils across Australia have invested in the Hydrosense soil moisture monitoring system made by Campbell Scientific to ascertain optimal water coverage and duration. With a release set for September this year, the Hydrosense II is the second generation of this innovative Australian technology.


The Hydrosense II is a handheld display and soil moisture sensor. Featuring a new display and a new easy insertion soil probe, this compact measurement system has a clear, large LCD display with a convenient layout of the buttons to allow for undemanding one-handed operation in the field.

Incorporating Bluetooth connectivity with an onboard GPS, the new and improved Hydrosense II allows for storable geo-tags recording location specific data. This data can be transmitted wirelessly from your handset to your laptop or PC and can then be exported to Google Earth, GPX and CSV (Excel).


Full spacial representation can be achieved allowing gardeners, curators and grounds keepers to selectively irrigate only where and when needed, reducing water costs, improving sustainability and the overall condition of the turf.

According to a report commissioned by the Victorian Government on ‘Ground Conditions and Injury Risk’, the Hydrosense is “easy to use, not subject to operator error”. The new Hydrosense II, which sells from around $1500, also offers the latest communication capabilities coupled with geo-tagging for more precise, three dimensional representation of your playing field and Campbell’s legendary technical and integration support.

 The Hydrosense II is recommended for any curator or grounds keeper wishing to comply with sustainability programs while getting maximum mileage from your allocated resource.


For more information about the Sustainable Sports Ground Program, visit www.grants.dpcd.vic.gov.au

Up to $100,000 is available for each project. Applications close Wednesday 10 August 2011.

For pre-sale orders please contact Gavin Hewitt

New Ticketing System to Improve Campbell Quality Service

Campbell Scientific Australia have implemented a new ticketing system to help track sales and support inquiries in order to further improve the quality of customer service we provide.  

The new system will automatically create new tickets from emails sent to our public email addresses.

Sales inquiries should be sent to info@campbellsci.com.au

Support inquiries should be sent to helpdesk@campbellsci.com.au

Customers will receive a confirmation email that their inquiry has been received and a username and password to use to log in to our Helpdesk website at http://helpdesk.campbellsci.com.au. Here customers can view all of their open tickets, look through technician replies, post responses and rate the quality of support they have received.

When a technician replies to a ticket, the customer will be notified by an email containing the reply and a link to the ticket on our website. The customer will then have the option of replying to the email as normal, or entering the website to see the ticket history and then send a response.

All quotes will be sent through the ticketing system, these will be received as an email by the customer. The customer can then reply to that email with further questions or a purchase order and the reply will be linked directly to the quote, enabling our sales and ordering staff to respond to inquiries more promptly.

More information on setting up and using a CSA helpdesk account can be found in this document: 

University of PNG AWS Tender Won by Joint Australian/UK Campbell Scientific Bid

In 2010, the University of Papua New Guinea purchased an automatic weather station from CSA for evaluation. The system had to be web enabled, capable of handling the extreme tropical conditions of PNG and have adequate battery and solar power to remain online for extended periods in tropical monsoonal periods. Despite these challenges, CSA’s engineers and production team provided a system that passed the University’s requirements with flying colours.

In early 2011, the University of PNG applied for and secured external funding for 18 automatic weather stations based on the specifications of the unit previously supplied by CSA. The only problem was that the funding was provided by the European Economic Community (EEC) and their strict requirements required that the 18 stations be supplied by a company from a country within the EEC – which ruled Australia out.

Our sister company in the UK, Campbell Scientific Ltd, quickly agreed to manufacture and supply the 18 stations based on CSA’s specifications with some additional regional components being supplied by CSA. The stations have now been shipped to the University of PNG within budget and on time – another joint Campbell Scientific success story.

Charles Sturt Uni Rhizolysimeter Project

The new Charles Sturt University (CSU) Rhizolysimeter is the largest root-growth research facility in the world. The complex contains 72 intact soil monoliths encased in steel tubes. The encased soil monoliths are arranged in rows of 18 in two underground rhizolysimeter laboratories (2 rows in each lab) that allow access to the side of the soil cores beneath the soil surface. The design of the facility allows for nondestructive, in situ, and high temporal resolution measurements of integrative root growth and soil water dynamics. The soil monoliths can be fitted with a wide range of sensors. Campbell Scientific Australia are installing a total of 576 TDR (Time Domain Reflectometer) sensors, 8 in each soil monolith. The CS610 3-rod TDR sensors are connected to a network of multiplexers controlled by a CR1000 data logger.

View of the Rhizolysimeter site, the smaller old site can be seen to the left of the picture.

Inserting the CS610 probes into the drilled holes.

Crane over Lab 2 lifting the cores to provide access for drilling and installation of CS610 TDR probes.

Lifting the cores with a crane to provide access for drilling and inserting the top four CS610 probes.

Drilling holes in the lab for installing the CS610 TDR probes

More drilling!

Wiring up in Lab 1

Lab 1 with most of the enclosures installed.

Rain shades for sliding over the cores










Underneath

Environmental Management Increases Mining Profits

Conventional wisdom places environmental practices as an obstacle and burden to mining operations – an obstruction to the actual running of a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. For a savvy mining operator, an environmental management plan can be a highly useful tool for maximising profit margins, minimising potential liabilities, increasing efficiency and gaining positive publicity.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) in Australia means implementing an international standard of consistent improvement – namely, ISO 14001. A company which complies with ISO14001 in a given review period will be issued a certificate to that end and will enjoy greater relations with other ISO14001 compliant companies. Having a compliant EMS also serves as significant protection from legal issues, often preventing costly and image-damaging litigation.

ISO 14001 is not designed to dictate to Managers how to run their companies; it is a tool for improving efficiency of business systems and environmental performance. Having an EMS can be a competitive advantage in the tender process, leading to increased tender success and increased business success. Having a certified EMS is a requirement to entering some Japanese or EU markets.

Environmental risk categorisation and rating is a part of a successful EMS, improving your organisation’s ability to manage and mitigate risk associated with the environmental effects of mining operations and their after-effects. Recycling waste and reusing energy is also a key part of an EMS, allowing organisations to reduce operating costs, increasing profit margins. For example, following the Queensland floods earlier this year, water produced as a result of coal seam gas extraction was allowed to be used for removal of mud and debris from flood-affected buildings given that the water quality passed suitable criteria. This produced goodwill and positive publicity for the participating companies, possibly increasing public support for further mine development.

The essence of the ISO14001 standard is that it is a positive feedback loop – to maintain their certificate, a company must improve its environmental management measurably every year. One method of doing this is to introduce automated data logging of important environmental variables, such as the salinity of runoff, or the suspended solids in tailings dams. Automatically logged data can be used to construct much more detailed models than manually collected data, as it can be collected more frequently with ease. Another advantage is that automated collection allows real-time monitoring of on-site conditions, without waiting weeks for lab analysis of samples.

Campbell Scientific Australia is based in Townsville, Queensland and has been a leader in water quality measurement for 18 years, with hundreds of sites across Australia boasting Campbell sensors and data loggers. The company offers automated, on-site logging of water quality data including turbidity, suspended solids concentrations, water temperature, water depth, electrical conductivity, salinity, pH, oxygen reduction potential and dissolved oxygen.

Dissolved solids concentrations are especially important for water quality in an EMS, as standards are set for the suitable use for water in tailings dams etc and often have a maximum allowable suspended solids specification for a given application. For example, the flood water cleanup mentioned earlier allowed CSG water which met criteria of pH, suspended solids and electrical conductivity (often used as a measure of salinity) to be used for that purpose. Different requirements must be met to allow waste water to be used for dust suppression or for revegetation. Campbell Scientific Australia can provide real time monitoring of these criteria, allowing business decisions to be made quickly with instant and historical data available easily. A simple system for a small tailings dam might cost approximately $25000, a negligible cost compared to the overall cost of running a mine.

Real time data logging of water quality is a vital component of an EMS for mining companies and Campbell Scientific Australia’s Application Engineers have the expertise and flexibility to make the integration and support of on-site sensors a successful and profitable project.

Back on Line After Cyclone Yasi

A Big Hello To Our Customers!

We apologize for the fact that the offices of CSA could not be contacted for the last week.

As you may or may not be aware, one of the largest cyclones ever to hit the Australian coastline crossed around 200 klm north of Townsville last Wednesday night.

Cyclone Yasi did massive damage to the coastal towns of Mission Beach, Cardwell and to the sugar town of Tully.

The city of Townsville was not in the eye of the cyclone where the winds are strongest but according to the media, we were hit by category two winds of between 125kph to 170 kph.
While there was little structural damage to buildings in the city, there was considerable damage to signs, trees, power lines and transformers.

Shortly after the cyclone, only 15% of the city of Townsville had power.

The offices of CSA were in one of the worst affected areas and power was only restored late yesterday afternoon – almost a week after the cyclone hit.

So please bear with us while we catch up on the support calls, emails and shipping that has accumulated over that period. We will do our very best to respond in a timely manner.

The last few months has seen a variety of intense weather patterns throughout Australia.

With floods in central and southern Queensland and Victoria, bushfires in Western Australia and extreme heat in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, the people of Australia have suffered many trials and tribulations.

We at CSA are extremely proud of the instrumental role that Campbell Scientific equipment and staff have played in monitoring these events and in many cases, minimizing the loss of life and property.

With the help of you, our loyal customers, we hope that we can continue to provide such service and support to the Australian community.

Regards,

The Team at CSA