The performance of passive flow monitors and phosphate accumulating passive samplers when exposed to pulses in external water flow rate and/or external phosphate concentrations

Passive samplers are typically calibrated under constant flow and concentration conditions. This study assessed whether concentration and/or flow pulses could be integrated using a phosphate passive sampler (P-sampler). Assessment involved three 21-day experiments featuring a pulse in flow rate, a pulse of filterable reactive phosphate (FRP) concentration and a simultaneous concentration and flow pulse. FRP concentrations were also determined by parallel grab sampling and the P-sampler calibrated with passive flow monitors (PFMs) and direct measurement of flow rates. The mass lost from the PFM over the deployment periods predicted water velocity to within 5.1, 0.48 and 7.1% when exposed to a flow rate pulse (7.5–50 cm s−1), concentration pulse (5–100 μg P L−1), or both simultaneously. For the P-sampler, good agreement was observed between the grab and passive measurements of FRP concentration when exposed to a pulse in flow (6% overestimation) or concentration (2% underestimation).

► We assess the performance of the passive flow monitor and a phosphate passive sampler when exposed to changing environmental conditions.
► The PFM responded quickly and accurately to a pulse in flow rate but showed little response to an external FRP pulse.
► The ability of the sampler to provide an integrated measure of the average phosphate concentrations has been demonstrated.
► The results presented demonstrate under which conditions the greatest accuracy is achieved when employing passive samplers.