Patent ID: 7428849

Claim:
An arrangement for obtaining an organism-populated sample of predetermined volume from a liquid source present in an environment at least a portion of which environment constitutes highly restricted physical access, comprising first container means for receiving at least a substantial portion of said organism-populated sample, said container means being sized to be accommodated by said restricted access portion of said environment and having a capacity enabling collection of said predetermined volume from a minimal number of collection attempts, said container means having an opening for communicating with said liquid source; pole means having proximal and distal ends extendable relative to one another for supporting the container means, said pole means being structured to accommodate said restricted access portion of said environment over a predetermined range of extension to enable sample collection remotely relative to said restricted access portion of said environment; means for coupling the container means to the pole means at least proximate one end thereof, said coupling means including first means for flexibly orienting during sample collection the opening of said container means with respect to the surface of the liquid source through virtually any acute operative angle relative to the longitudinal dimension of the pole means, and further including at least a second container means demountably coupled proximate to the distal end of the pole means, said first and second container means varying in size and/or volume relative to one another, said first and second container means being coupled proximate to respective ends of said pole means, enabling sample collection associated with either end of the pole means and storage of second container means.