One of the best things in a Baykeeper’s day is meeting people who happily walk the talk. So it was quite a buzz this week to see Ross Headifen install a litter trap which he designed for the stormwater outfall at Albert Park beach.
Ross installing his savvy solution to plastic pollution
Better still, he’d already installed several other traps on City of Port Phillip foreshores; and negotiated with CoPP to have the traps maintained and monitored by the local beach cleaning crew.
A tailor made trap for a Port Melbourne outfall
Ross has designed the traps to be quite robust but economical. While not huge, they are large enough to contain the expected litter load and still allow high stormwater flows to escape rather than blocking up and causing localised flooding upstream. We’ll be working with Ross to see how the traps perform over the coming summer to evaluate the designs and rectify any maintenance issues.
Great work Ross! I look forward to the evaluation/learnings.
What do you think of my instant thoughts?
Compared with the heavyweight Gross Pollution Traps installed into the drains in my area several (10?) years ago, it looks like:
Advantages: easy to inspect to see if they are full (so less chance of by-pass due to overloading), much cheaper to install, can be cleaned with a back hoe rather than via crane or similar..
Disadvantages: much (?) less capacity, so need more frequent emptying; fragile (? star pickets can be uprooted by storm surge or too much pressure in storms when leaves etc. pile up)
Litter traps on beaches, a no-brainer really! The visual impact might give beach-goers some food for thought…perhaps they’ll make a connection when they see stormwater drains as the source of all that litter. Look forward to reading about how the trial goes.
Too right Leah. There’s a real opportunity to display some educational info on marine litter alongside the traps.
Good points Michael. The trial may well result in some tweaking of designs. No doubt the cost of maintaining the traps (compared to the heavy duty jobs already in service) and the size of the trap in relation to reflect the size of stormwater drain it serves will be given rigorous scrutiny. Some trap locations will be less prone to storm surge than others. A chance to learn!
I am sure Ross’ good work will provide us with some very interesting results. Will the traps be monitored and their content assessed? And can community members follow these reports, perhaps even participate in them?
What a great idea Alicia! I’m pretty sure the City of Port Phillip would provide us some GIS maps that show the streets serviced by stormwater drains that have Ross’s traps on them. It would be great to have community members surveying the catchments to identify the most common litter items. That info could be compared with what is taken up by the traps.
As a beach and water lover i am constantly saddened at the amount of litter on our beaches due to open storm water drains. In our business as usual attitude our environment has taken a battering and only a percentage of us really care to do the right thing in regards to litter. The rise of concerned environmental groups targeting litter in the environment and two massive pools of rubbish in the Pacific and Atlantic ocean is testament to where we currently stand on the issue. Great idea Ross. I’ve been wanting something on these storm water drains since i became aware of the issue. There should be by LAW some type of trap on every drain entry and/or exit. I would argue there’s no time to waste in regards to looking after and doing the right thing by the environment and indirectly ourselves. The finer pollutants are probably even more damaging than the larger but something’s better than nothing, we are lucky to have a strong tidal movement in the bay. I still hold the thought that why were are all working our butts off so we can retire comfortably, i ask the Question ??? What type of environment will we be retiring too and leaving to our kids. A clean healthy environment is crucial to our health and happiness. Good on you Ross. Mother Nature Thanks You, I thank you. Lets hope the council and the politicians get behind your idea, Its long overdue.
Well said Trent. I’ve no doubt there are many others who share your sentiments; and this little blog is here to give them a voice. I reckon the tide is turning and we’ll be seeing more of Ross’ traps around the Bay soon!
Wondering how the storm water litter traps held up with the recent deluge at Christmas?
How can people just dump litter on the beach? Would they do it on their own front lawn? A few hefty (and I mean hefty!) fines may deter the majority of dirty dumpers.
Thanks for your query Jean. The trap stood strong, but the sand it was sitting on (at least at the outward end) got washed away. Seems like a floor needs to be included in the design. Easily done.
Actually Vlad, a most of the litter on beaches is dropped on a street somewhere and washed into the Bay when it rains. As to what to do about dumpers, an effective solution will involve a combination of education, infrastructure and enforcement in all the stormwater catchments around the Bay. Should be do-able if we really want it to happen.