How long can I keep surface water vs ground water samples before sending to the lab?
Microbial degradation of CFCs can occur in ampoules of surface water if the sample contains particulate organic carbon or other particulates. Please contact the CFC lab and arrange to send surface-water samples within several days of collection. It is important that the CFC lab be notified so that the surface water samples will be analyzed as they are received. Ground-water samples, such as from karst, that may also contain particulates, should be treated as surface water, to minimize potential for degradation of CFCs on storage.
