"Leave No Trace" is a popular ethic for outdoor recreationists who advocate a natural landscape. Now also it is applicable to ground water sampling collection sites along the Columbia River in southeastern Washington State.
Hydrologists from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are using a simple apparatus of 1/4-inch-diameter plastic tubing to collect samples at varying levels in the aquifer along the river's edge. Though a permanent installation, the low-cost, lightweight materials are easy to camouflage with indigenous rocks and vegetation so that the collection site appears undisturbed.