| Drying
Here in the British Isles the weather can be rather
fickle, particularly when out sand collecting, or so it
seems. As a result samples always seem to be wet, or damp at
the very least, and most will need to be dried before
storage. Only sand collected from the top of the dunes ever
seems to be dry. Drying samples of sand is not rocket
science but the time it takes to dry does depend on climate
and where you are actually placing the samples out to dry.
During the winter months, here in Scotland, I need to take
my samples indoors to dry. Leaving them in the shed to dry
would take weeks at this time of year and drying them
outside is just not an option. My personal method is to
spread the samples in flat bottomed plastic trays called
"weigh boats" - thin flexible plastic trays used to weigh out chemicals
in research laboratories. They are used only once before
being discarded. You can buy them quite cheaply in
batches of 250 or 500. In winter these are placed in top of the central heating boiler
in the kitchen - the
warmest area on the house and also on top of the kitchen
wall units. They come in a range of sizes and I've found
that 140 x 140 mm are optimal for the size of samples I
collect. There are even smaller one's if you go for
micro-sampling. It takes about a day or two for a
really wet sample to dry, with only a few hours for sand
that is merely damp. I used to make use of the tops of radiators but
this is not a preferred method as the trays are too easy to
dislodge and it's next to impossible to recovery mixed-up
samples. Not the best thing you want to happen to your
sand samples. A great tip is to use two trays together with
your labelled sampling bag safely held between the two trays.
This keep sampling bag and sample together and prevent
things getting mixed up. During the warmer summer months, I use the
garden shed and greenhouse to dry wet samples. Again
spreading the sand on flat trays to increase the surface
area will assist drying. The greenhouse by far gets them
dried the quickest but with samples of very fine sand, and particularly
clay, it's
important to protect them from the wind which could blow
away fine particles. A small point to note is that the
sampling bag you used to collect your sample may also be wet
and it's not a good idea to return dry sand to a wet bag. As
a rule I always discard any bag that was wet. They only cost a few pence each and binning a few bags won't break
the bank. Of course, indoor drying is not without it's
problems. Some samples may contain organic materials, such
as plant matter or even insects, and the odours given off
while drying can be quite noticeable and can upset less
enthusiastic family members. Such samples are best dried
elsewhere. For those who do not have a suitable drying
area for their samples, a cheap option is to purchase a
plastic mini-greenhouse. These are constructed using a
tubular steel frame which supports a strong plastic cover. A
roll-up zipped door allows access. You can pick these up for
about £30.00 complete with three shelves. A great way to
dry samples when your wife has the greenhouse full of
plants. |
