Nets to reduce the descharge of rubbish from drainage systems in Australia
The City of Kwinana in Australia has installed drainage nets as an innovative filtration way to reduce the discharge of rubbish from drainage systems.
In March 2018 two drainage nets have been installed in the Henley Natural Reserve to prevent gross pollutants and solid waste being discharged into nature. The nets allowed to collect 370kg of debris in six months. No wildlife has been caught up in either of the City’s nets.
The nets have been placed on the outlet of two drainage pipes, which are located between residential areas and natural areas. This allows the nets to capture the gross pollutants carried by storm water runoff of the local road network before those pollutants are discharged and contaminate the natural environment at the downstream end of the outlet area. This ensures that the habitat of the local wildlife is protected and minimizes the risk of wildlife being caught in the nets.
The reusable nets are easily able to be lifted and emptied by the City’s staff directly into a truck by machinery. The collected waste is then transported to a sorting facility where the green waste is converted into mulch and recyclable-non-recyclable materials are separated and the plastics recycled.
The City determined the net to be the most cost effective and the safest option for wildlife over other methods. The cost for the two nets was $20,000 which included the cost of design, manufacture and installation. The City estimated that is possible to realize considerable cost savings in labour intensive work previously required to manually collect the rubbish scattered around the reserve. The return on capital investment can be realized in the short term.
This simple and innovative system may be of interest to other territories, adapting it to specific local needs. In the Stormwatersystems website photos published in this article and features of the StormX Netting Trash Trap can be found to know more about this technology.
http://stormwatersystems.com/stormx-netting-trash-trap/
StormX Netting Trash Trap is engineered to capture gross pollutants and handle powerful stormwater runoff at most urban hot spots. Commercial grade, reusable nets provide full capture of gross pollutants as small as 5 mm, including organic materials (such as leaves) that could reduce the levels of phosphorous and nitrogen in our water. This economical solution to litter and debris in stormwater runoff is highly effective for “first flush.” To prevent flooding, built-in overflows allow heavy runoff to flow unimpeded.
