• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.69-73
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• 1999

The study was performed to examine the elimination capacity of impurity on the fiberglass wicks to exert a suction of Passive capillary samplers (PCAPS) on soil water. This impurity affects the capillary properties of the wick and the chemical properties of the samples collected. To determine the need, capillary rise and moisture contents were measured after the wicks were cleaned by four methods : combustion, acetone extraction, detergent washing, and uncleaning. The wicks were made with fibers produced by PPG Industries and Manville Company, U.S.A. Results showed that wicks made from PPG fibers lost up to 3.4% of original mass during combustion while Manville fiber wicks lost only up to 0.6%. These losses are assumed to have been due to combustion of organic compounds applied by the manufacturers. All cleaning methods had higher capillary rise than obtained with uncleaning method Combustion at 40$0^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours was the best cleaning method. removing 98 to 100% of impurities.