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Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

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Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#61

Post by sundvor »

zizee wrote: post #45
incompatible wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt that "Australia" Found a Way is putting credit where it deserves to go. It's not exactly a national priority.

You make it sound like Australia has a huge problem with plastic/trash in waterways that "Australia" is actively ignoring. In general, Australian's culture is to use rubbish bins and keep things tidy. Sidepoint: I am not sure if it is something only Australians do, but whenever something about Australia comes up, there will be an Australian there bemoaning how badly we do things. Yes, there is always room for improve…

It's probably because a lot of people feel we could easily do better when it comes to the environment - regardless of what other countries might be doing.

And there are a number of areas where we certainly aren't ahead either.

Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#62

Post by sundvor »

tty2300 wrote: post #33
azinman2 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But didn’t the public just vote for coal?

The people I know who voted for the libs preferenced the greens first and only voted for the libs because labor would leave them financially worse off.

And we have to put our own finances before the environment! (Screw our children, after all.)

Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#63

Post by zizee »

sundvor wrote: post #61
zizee wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make it sound like Australia has a huge problem with plastic/trash in waterways that "Australia" is actively ignoring. In general, Australian's culture is to use rubbish bins and keep things tidy. Sidepoint: I am not sure if it is something only Australians do, but whenever something about Australia comes up, there will be an Australian there bemoaning how badly we do things. Yes, there is always room for improve…

It's probably because a lot of people feel we could easily do better when it comes to the environment - regardless of what other countries might be doing. And there are a number of areas where we certainly aren't ahead either.

Oh I agree that we can do better, and should do better. I am more taking issue at people who make it sound like Australia is terrible compared to just about any other country, no matter what the discussion is about.

Whether the discussion be about environment, politics, innovation, corruption, you name it, some Australian will start moaning about how badly we do X.

Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#64

Post by jspash »

zeristor wrote: post #36

I assume this can only work for outflows near a road in order to provide access to the machinery. Outflows in forests, and at the foot of cliffs might go uncaptured, but its a good stab at a solution. In the Thames they have flotsam collectors that rubbish ends up as the tide tos and fros along the river, it's called a passive driftwood collector: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7YJXNfJwdg

I noticed this one a few weeks back when I was at the shops. There seemed to be a weird crane-line contraption hidden in the woods where I knew there was a creek or canal. Thinking it had something to do with canal boats I wanted to have a closer look. https://goo.gl/maps/FuXrmR7TFRmm4r1r5

It's very much like those carnival crane games where you try to lift a prize out of a glass box. I'm not sure how often it's emptied, but at the time it was full of rubbish.

Seeing as a city reservoir is not far away I can understand why they would want to filter as much as possible before it floats that way.

Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#65

Post by ricardobeat »

amluto wrote: post #40

This seems worse in almost every respect than a hydrodynamic stormwater separator. With the latter, you pop open a manhole cover and suck out the goo with a vacuum truck. With a net, you have to somehow pick it up without spilling the contents. Then you hope you can empty it without destroying it or you replace it. This sounds much harder. Oh, and hydrodynamic separators claim to catch oils, too.

That only works for vertical storm drains, no? Could it be installed in outflow pipes as seen in the pictures?

And what about cost?

Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#66

Post by ricardobeat »

snazz wrote: post #4

> Though the installation and the manufacture of these nets cost money (about $10,000 each) That seems exceedingly expensive for a net and a metal ring to hold it (maybe because drainage outlets aren’t standard sizes?), but I’m impressed with the claims of how effective it is.

I though the same initially, but if you look closely there is a metal assembly that has to be fitted to the concrete pipe, plus the whole thing must be a lot heavier than one would assume from pictures to withstand the water pressure for weeks at a time.

Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#68

Post by DonHopkins »

woodruffw wrote: post #55
specialp wrote: post #49

I kayak and fish in the bays of NYC. A fact not known by much of the population of the city is that almost every time it rains, the sewage treatment plants release raw sewage into the ocean. This is due to the storm drains being drained by the same system that sewage is treated from. Due to this the water is filled with trash, floating condoms, and wet wipes. So this isn't just third world countries. It is bad enough…

Yup. I had to explain this to my visiting friends, who wanted to go to Coney Island after a storm. IIRC, there are physical limitations on the city's ability to filter sewage and stormwater -- it all runs through the same pipes, and it would be a momentous undertaking to split the systems (some of those pipes are 200+ years old, and aren't accurately mapped). Wastewater treatment capacity is slowly increasing, howeve…

They wanted to collect Coney Island Whitefish?

Re: Nets on the outlets of drainage pipes save waterways from pollution

#70

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

amluto wrote: post #40

This seems worse in almost every respect than a hydrodynamic stormwater separator. With the latter, you pop open a manhole cover and suck out the goo with a vacuum truck. With a net, you have to somehow pick it up without spilling the contents. Then you hope you can empty it without destroying it or you replace it. This sounds much harder. Oh, and hydrodynamic separators claim to catch oils, too.

Textbook example of perfect being the enemy of good. If we can't solve the problem 100% with this (cheap, easy to retrofit) method then why even try?
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