Dust Monitoring Services (DMS) has been manufacturing dust fallout monitoring units for over a decade and, as with all other suppliers, was using a 5l plastic bucket which was not 100% ASTM compliant.
The regulation requires:
- An open-topped cylinder not less than 150mm in diameter with a height not less than twice its diameter.
- Containers should be made of stainless steel or weatherproof plastic. They shall be capable of accepting legible, weatherproof, identification markings.
- A tight-fitting lid is needed for each container.
Over the years, all imaginable solutions, such as bucket extenders, PVC drainpipes with pipe stoppers, steel containers and others, have been applied in an attempt to comply, but have all failed.
In the last year, DMS noticed that a competitor had in fact spent a large sum of money to injection mould a bucket that met the requirements. This is excellent from an industry perspective, but there are a few short comings with the design. Namely, the lid is not tight fitting, and the thin material used in its fabrication is prone to cracking after a few months in the field.
DMS saw an opportunity to improve on this innovation by creating our own mould and bucket. We wanted to offer a solution that had no buts.
We elected to use polyethylene, which is UV stabilised and much thicker, this is the same material used for the manufacturing of Jojo tanks. This material is guaranteed to last eight years in the field, unlike injection-moulded buckets without UV stabilising that become brittle after a much shorter period.
To address the tight-fitting lid issue, we elected to use a screw-on lid with an O-ring to ensure that our samples will not leak in transit, even if they are knocked over or transported horizontally. Often clients elect to courier samples to a lab of their choice and in those cases have no control over how they are transported or handled. Even a small leak could have a large impact on the results.
The robust screw-on lid is also resistant to damage when subjected to the continuous opening and closing which sample buckets are exposed to over a monthly monitoring programme.
DMS has elected to still supply its units with the 5l plastic bucket and lid as it is a lot more cost effective and generally still accepted. The decision to change over to the ASTM-specified bucket will, ultimately, lie with the client.
