Adriene is an environmental technician at Martha Mine. Once a week she collects the filters from several Air Monitors that are located around Waihi and also at the neighbouring towns of Paeroa and Katikati. Air monitors are mostly positioned high on power poles or raised areas. They have a motor that sucks in air rather like a vacuum cleaner. The air passes through a filter, which traps dust. The volume of air that passes through the monitor is measured automatically.
In the top photograph Adriene is recording the total volume of air that has been drawn through the monitor that week. The filter will be replaced and the used one will be weighed and analysed to determine the amount of dust. This is measured in micrograms per cubic metre per week (µg/m/7days).
The photograph below shows a used filter at left about to be replaced by a new one on the right.
