A system for facilitating hemostasis of a puncture site in a blood vessel injects an absorbable sponge pledget in a hydrated state to a position at an exterior of the blood vessel puncture to facilitate hemostasis. The moving web has a first side and a second side. The measuring circuit is so configured and positioned that the signal fed into the measuring circuit changes as a function of whether or not the measuring circuit is surrounded by the medium, while the reference circuit is so configured and positioned that the signal fed into the reference circuit remains unaffected by the fill level of the medium.