This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will test the ability of an innovative monitoring technology, the ?Submersible Seepage Meter' to accurately and economically measure seepage losses to groundwater from agricultural waste lagoons. Seepage from waste lagoons is now widely recognized as a significant source of groundwater pollution. Despite the importance of lagoon seepage, no reliable and affordable monitoring technology is currently available to measure seepage. Instead, seepage rates are usually inferred from groundwater monitoring, an expensive method prone to large uncertainty. The Submersible Seepage Meter promises to fill this gap in technology by performing robust in-situ measurement of seepage in active waste lagoons. The research objectives are to perform pilot tests of seepage meter performance in an active waste lagoon and to formulate a spatial sampling strategy to allow efficient field measurement of bulk seepage rates.
Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:: It is anticipated that, when completed, this study will demonstrate that the Submersible Seepage Meter can directly and accurately measure in-situ seepage rates. The potential commercial application is the marketing of this technology to industry, agribusiness, and environmental regulators. As there currently is no commercially available method for taking direct and accurate measurements of seepage rates, the Submersible Seepage Meter has outstanding commercial potential.
