Our team of trained field technicians performs sampling procedures in a variety of field conditions and geographical locations. They are supported by our fleet of all-terrain vehicles that conforms to client safety requirements.

How do we ensure continuity and credibility in our field monitoring services?

We make use of electronic hand-held devices that provide task lists to field technicians and records the date and time as well as the location of field sampling actions performed. This information is synchronised via satellite with the Aquatico SQL Server database. To ensure sample integrity, samples taken in the field are transported in electronic cooling units at 4°C to the laboratory.

Types of field monitoring services provided by Aquatico:

• Surface water monitoring
• Groundwater monitoring
• Occupational hygiene monitoring
• Air quality monitoring

PDA Units

All field monitoring is conducted with the use of PDA units. With each monitoring locality a set of predefined observations – customized by the project manager i.e. flow, water level, smell etc – is answered. The software will not allow the technician to continue to a next step without entering the required information.

Pre-bar-coded

ContainersAll sample containers are pre-bar-coded and the technician must scan the sampling container prior to taking the sample, This will firstly ensure that it’s the right locality and secondly that the correct sampling container type is used (i.e., organic samples in glass bottle).

Photographs

Prior to taking any sample, the software will also require that a photo be taken, this will be automatically named and filed, with a time and GPS coordinates as reference to the sample, providing an audit trail for sampling.

Geo-tagging

The GPS coordinate taken within this step will be verified against the predefined coordinate for this locality. As soon as the technician is not within a 30m radius (customizable parameter) of the predefined position for the specific monitoring locality, the software will immediately prompt a warning on the screen that it is not the correct locality.

Step-by-step Execution

Only at the point where all the requested tasks are completed will the software acknowledge that the function is completed and prompt the technician to proceed to the following locality.

SQL Database

Once the field technician arrives back at the laboratory , all the samples are delivered to sample reception and the handheld unit is connected to the mainframe system via docking stations. All sampling info is downloaded into an SQL database.