Locating Chlorides in soil via Electric Resistance

Try it with AC, about 15v peak to peak. A lot of conductivity sensors do this using stainless steel pins about 1/2" appart. Many other things will effect it, this is commonly used to measure detergent concentration in commercial dishwashers.

Del

I had a similar experience, and ran into about the same problem. My feeling is that there are too many potential current pathways through the earth to your rod for this to be a usable technique.

Del may have the right idea. Instead of electrifying the ground and well, just use a conductivity meter with 2 fixed probes and just poke around the well.

Better yet, perhaps you could use an ion specific electrode (ISE) for Cl-, and poke it in the ground to directly measure the chloride content. You can get an ISE and meter for about $700.

Good luck,

Tad

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

220,000ppm is 22%. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Salt_Lake and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea are the sort of places that these levels of chloride may be found in solution naturally. Where the remaining water evaporates, a deposit of minerals may be left behind, which usually ends up as a white crystalline solid, being then easily locatable.

What is the significance of the conductance measuring equipment in relation to oil (which doesn't conduct much) and leaking pipes? Something doesn't add up yet.

Sorry Guys, was off the grid for a while. Anyway, Salt water usually exist's under oil. durring well drilling and pumping, some salt water is released, usually some amount inside the oil. If a well has seepage or not sealed properly then the salt water rises to the surface and locates a path of least resistance. It usually contaminates the good water flows nearby. So by locating the highest Cl ppm, you can usually locate the source of the leak.

This site, I am guessing a undocumented well that was not sealed properly. Probably drilled in the 40's. has had so much seepage (over time) that at the bottom of a 200ft hill its actually bleeding salt. Its killed all the trees and the surface is so salty it shimmers in the light. Two pump trucks a day to haul off the sludge in the seep pits.

Still havnt located the source yet.

Thanks to all who replied.

Clifton.