Novasys Sorbisense System passive samplers and mounting devices

The Sorbisense System is a combination of passive samplers, SorbiCells and mounting devices for monitoring nutrients and xenobiotics in the aquatic environment as an alternative or supplementary to traditional grab sampling. This is especially advantageous if concentrations vary substantially with time, which makes it difficult to collect representative grab samples.

Areas of application include: monitoring groundwater, including simultaneously at multilevels; monitoring drinking water quality; monitoring drainage water, lakes, reservoirs, streams and rivers; industrial wastewater monitoring; screening and risk evaluation; evaluation of in-situ remediation; environmental research; and environmental monitoring.

The technology is based on advanced adsorbents, designed to retain specific chemical groups or solutes. The technology is equivalent to solid phase extraction commonly used in modern analytical laboratories.

The SorbiCell is a small cartridge containing the adsorbent and a tracer compound. When installed in the appropriate mount, water passes slowly through the porous SorbiCell at a controlled rate. The adsorbent has a high capacity, enabling retention and accumulation of solutes from the passing water during the entire period of installation. The tracer is dissolved proportionally as water transits the SorbiCell, thus accurately detecting the volume of throughput water. At the end of the monitoring period, the cartridge is easily extracted and sent to a laboratory for analysis.

The laboratory extracts the solutes from the adsorbent then identifies and quantifies the solutes using common laboratory procedures. In parallel, the laboratory determines the amount of tracer dissolved and thereby the volume of water that passed through the SorbiCell. The result is reported as the average concentration of solutes per litre of water.

The passive samplers are currently available in five versions for measuring: nitrogen and phosphorous; pesticides, herbicides, fungicides; petrochemicals; heavy metals; and VOCs, VOXs.