Sludge Samplers

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Sludge Samplers

Eijkelkamp sludge and sediment samplers for rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs and estuaries — Van Veen and Ekman grabs, Beeker and free fall corers, the Arnhem bed load transportmeter, Secchi disc for transparency and sediment level staves.

Three Van Veen Grab silver geometric pendants with angular shapes and thin wire elements rest on a white background; one is attached to a chain, whilst the other two feature horizontal bar components.

Van Veen Grab

Price range: £737.00 through £873.00
An Ekman Grab Set in a black hard case with a handle, open to reveal a metal grab and coiled white rope, both neatly arranged in separate compartments.

Ekman Grab Set

The Beeker Sediment Core Sampler kit includes metal rods, tubes, a hammer, trowel, brush, gloves, a metal container, manual, and sampling tools arranged neatly on a white background.

Beeker Sediment Core Sampler

Multisampler - Rod Operated 5m

Multisampler – Rod Operated 5m

Free-Fall Corer - Standard Set

Free-Fall Corer – Standard Set

Sediment Level Stave - Standard Set

Sediment Level Stave – Standard Set

Visibility Disc

Visibility Disc – According to Secchi

Bed-Load Transportmeter - Type Arnhem

Bed-Load Transportmeter – Type Arnhem

Grab samplers

  • Van Veen Grab — the heavier grab, biting through firmer beds and suited to open water.
  • Ekman Grab Set — lighter and gentler, for soft fine sediment in shallow, sheltered water where minimal disturbance matters.

Corers and depth samplers

Transport and transparency

The grab versus corer decision

This is the choice that determines whether the fieldwork answers your question, and it is worth settling before mobilising rather than on the bank.

A grab gives you bulk surface sediment, homogenised as the jaws close. For sediment chemistry, particle size distribution and benthic macroinvertebrate sampling that is exactly right, and a grab is faster, simpler and more forgiving of difficult beds.

A corer preserves the vertical sequence. If you want to know how contamination has changed over time, when a source began contributing, or what the deposition history of a reservoir looks like, the sequence is the entire dataset and a grab destroys it in the act of collection. The Beeker corer also captures the sediment-water interface, where much of the biological and chemical activity that matters actually happens.

Matching the sampler to the bed

Bed material determines whether a deployment succeeds. Soft silt and mud sample cleanly with almost anything. Firm sand, gravel, stiff clay and debris-strewn beds hold grab jaws open, and the sample either washes out on retrieval or never fills the bucket — and a partly closed grab has usually lost the fines, which is the fraction most analyses depend on.

Inspect every recovery before accepting it. On difficult beds expect several attempts, and if the grab consistently surfaces part-full, the honest conclusion is usually that the sampler is wrong for the bed rather than that the operator needs to try harder.

Related equipment

For the water column rather than the bed see Liquid Samplers and Water for field meters. For continuous water quality monitoring see Scuba Multiparameter Probes. The Van Veen grab is also available for immediate ordering in the shop.

Sludge sampler FAQs

A grab takes a bulk sample of the sediment surface, mixed as the jaws close. That suits sediment chemistry, particle size and benthic ecology. A corer preserves the vertical sequence, so you can see how sediment composition changes with depth and, in dated cores, reconstruct a deposition history. If the layering is the finding, you need a corer.
Van Veen grabs are heavier and bite harder, which suits firmer beds and open water where you need the jaws to close through resistant material. Ekman grabs are lighter, close more gently and cause less disturbance, which suits soft, fine sediment and shallow, sheltered water. Using an Ekman on a firm bed generally means an empty bucket.
Recovering an intact core of soft sediment, including the water immediately above the bed and the sediment-water interface. That interface is where much of the biologically and chemically interesting activity happens, and it is exactly what a grab destroys.
Coring in deeper water, where the corer is allowed to fall and penetrate the bed under its own momentum rather than being pushed. It is a practical way to recover cores without needing a rigid deployment system from the surface.
The Arnhem type bed load transportmeter measures material moving along the bed of a watercourse, as distinct from material suspended in the flow. That matters for sediment budgets, scour and siltation assessment, and morphological studies where the bed load fraction is often the one nobody has measured.
Water transparency. The disc is lowered until it disappears from view and the depth recorded. It is simple, standardised, requires no power, and remains one of the most widely used measurements in limnology - useful precisely because a century of comparable records exists.
Measuring the level of accumulated sediment, for tracking siltation in channels, reservoirs, ponds and settlement structures over time. Repeat measurements at fixed positions give an accumulation rate, which is what informs dredging schedules.
Most of it, yes. Grabs, Secchi discs and staves are hand-deployed on a line. Heavier corers and deeper water work need more consideration - tell us the water depth, the bed material and the platform you will work from and we will confirm what is practical.

Ordering and support

All samplers here are genuine Eijkelkamp, supplied direct from our UK operation. Tell us the water depth, the expected bed material, the platform you will deploy from and what the samples are being analysed for, and we will confirm whether a grab or a corer is right. Request a quote or get in touch.

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