Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

The re-location of dipwells for monitoring purposes can be very difficult, especially
where 2 m high and dense under-storey of vegetation develops during the spring!
Techniques which can be used for re-location include recording the location using
a GPS, leaving a marker stake in the ground next to the dipwell, or gluing a metal
item (small nut or washer) to the underside of the top-cap to allow re-location using
a metal detector.
Similar considerations to the above should be applied to monitoring of groundwater
levels in geological formations which underlie, or occur adjacent to, fens using
deeper boreholes or piezometers. Borehole installations, which monitor water levels
at greater depths and within the superficial or solid geology, are likely to require
designing and constructing on site according to the geology encountered. This is a
specialist activity requiring drilling equipment and experienced operators.
Field hydrogeology (Brassington, 2006) gives a wealth of practical information and
tips on groundwater-related field techniques.
230
Installing a groundwater
level observation point
(piezometer) at Insh
Marches, Scotland. A 50
mm diameter PVC pipe
with 1 mm slots, covered
in geotextile to prevent
ingress of fine soil particles,
is inserted into a handaugured
hole
(J. Schutten).
Installing a surface
water level point with an
automated datalogger
(OTT-Mini-Orpheus) in a
major ditch feeding Insh
Marshes, Scotland. The
pipe is 50mm diameter with
1mm slots, covered with
geotextile sock to prevent
fine particle ingress.
(J. Schutten)