A Feasibility Study of a Field Instrument for the Measurement of Suspended Sediment Concentration

Abstract

A flow-through instrument system for measuring the concentration of suspended sediments in natural streams is described. The sediment concentration is inferred from the change in electrical resistance of the water due to the presence of sediment. The system appears adaptable to either field or laboratory use. The potentialities of the system have been explored; however, no specific instrument design has been proposed. The range of particle sizes that can be handled in the laboratory instrument is from 9 to 300 microns in diameter at concentrations from 25 to 10,000 ppm by volume. The system is unaffected by variations in temperature, salinity, and contaminants in the flow within practical limits. Conducting particles sometimes alter the calibration, but a separate calibration can be made for sediments containing known proportions of conducting particles.