AASHTO R 24-99 (2022)

The objective of sampling is to collect a portion of material small enough in volume to be conveniently transported to and handled in the laboratory while still accurately representing the material being sampled. This implies, first, that the relative portions or concentrations of all pertinent components must be the same in the sample as in the material being sampled, and second, that the sample must be handled in such a way that no significant changes in composition occur before the tests are performed. Complete and unequivocal preservation of samples, whether domestic sewage, industrial waste, or natural waters, is a practical impossibility. Regardless of the nature of the sample, complete stability for every constituent can never be achieved. At best, preservation techniques can only retard the chemical and biological changes that inevitably continue after the sample is removed from the parent source.