I read about this eco-friendly way of collecting rubbish from a river in Baltimore USA, and wondered whether there may be an opportunity to copy the idea here.
The Inner Harbour Water Wheel, or “Mr. Trash Wheel” to locals, combines old and new technology to harness the power of water and sunlight to collect litter and debris flowing down the Jones Falls River.
The river’s current provides power to turn the water wheel, which lifts rubbish and debris from the water and deposits it into a dumpster barge. When there isn’t enough water current, a solar panel array provides additional power to keep the machine running. When the dumpster is full, it’s towed away by boat, and a new dumpster is put in place.
Shouldn’t there be something like this on every flowing river in the UK? It looks like it ticks all the right boxes to me.