Plastic, we know, is the number one enemy of the environment and is difficult to eliminate completely from our lives, despite attempts, some successful, to replace this material with others that are less dangerous. In recent months, the Australian town of Kwinana has been experimenting in the Henley nature reserve with a new water drainage system to prevent any type of plastic object from contaminating it.
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image credit: Storm Water Systems
This new system consists of a net placed at the mouth of a drainage pipe, which aims to trap large debris and protect the water from possible contamination.
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The pipes in the area drain all the water from the residential areas to the natural areas, managing to block all types of waste , even those brought in by the rains.
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Until now, this simple network system contained around 370 kg of garbage. This is an astonishing result considering that the first two networks were installed in March 2018.
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image credit: Old Castle Infrastructure
Once the nets fill with waste, they are collected and transported in special trucks to disposal centers, where recyclable and non-recyclable materials are separated. As soon as this phase is completed, the nets are repositioned in the drainage pipes.
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image credit: Storm Water Systems
After these first attempts, the local authorities decided to install these networks throughout the city of Kwinana to minimize pollution. Despite the fact that each net costs around $ 10,000, it has already been estimated that the costs will be significantly reduced in the future.
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image credit: Storm Water Systems
This simple but effective system of tackling environmental pollution caused by plastics could be easily emulated in other parts of the world and the results are visible immediately. Perhaps, with a few modifications, it could be applied even to the smallest debris, and who knows, maybe even to other environmentally toxic materials .
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While waiting for such actions to take place in our cities, we can still, in our own way, do something for our planet.
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image credit: City of Kwinana/Facebook