Lysimeter help needed

[ctmtwilliams]

I’m going to be working on a project that will involve pump and treat of chlorinated solvent impacted groundwater in an arid environment. The after treatment, the discharged water will be used to irrigate trees which will be part of a phytoremediation portion of the project. Lysimeters have been proposed to monitor the irrigation to insure that the site is not over-irrigated with treated water to the point where the treated water reaches the water table.

I don’t have any experience with lysimeters, but it is my understanding that the ceramic cup style lysimeter fail if allowed to dry out. I’m afraid that in the desert conditions this will cause problems. Can anyone point me in the direction of another type of lysimeter or methodology which could be used.