What’s the best way to tackle any problem? Attack at the root of the problem.
As far as the ocean plastic waste crisis is concerned, that would be dirty rivers. Plastic pollution from inland gets channeled down canals and waterways into rivers, which then carries the waste to the oceans and seas.
The latest intelligent solution to stop garbage in rivers from flowing any further is a bubble barrier! What exactly is this Bubble Barrier? It is a wall of air bubbles that stops plastic in canals and rivers but doesn’t block or interfere with the passage of marine wildlife and boats.
The source of the air bubbles is a perforated tube at the bottom of the river or canal. Air is pumped through the tube by compressors. When the air escapes through the perforations, it flows up as bubbles, which push submerged items up to the surface along the way. The tube is positioned diagonally, making the current move the waste to one side of the river or canal. There, it is then caught by a floating platform, removed, and analyzed to monitor the extent and type of plastic waste pollution in the area.
Supposedly, the bubble barrier even provides the bonus service of fighting the bloom of harmful algae because it increases oxygen levels in the water!
A Dutch start-up is behind the idea. It has teamed up with the municipality of Amsterdam and the regional water authority to trial the technology (called Bubble Barrier) with a three-year pilot. An operational barrier was installed in the Westerdok, at the end of Amsterdam’s canal belt. That is the point where the flow from the canals empties into the IJ river, and eventually, the North Sea.
Before this formal pilot, the company made sure it worked with a prototype version they tested in the IJssel river in the Netherlands. The device intercepted an average of 86% of waste.
As innovative as it is, the concept is not entirely new. The start-up was inspired by existing technology. For example, air bubbles are currently used to reduce underwater noise levels in the vicinity of sea-bed construction sites and to contain oil spills. The novelty of the device here is how it is being used – catching and collect garbage near the source before it pollutes the open ocean.
Eight million tons of plastic – about a garbage truckload a minute – ends up in the sea. Rivers transport most of that. Imagine if there was a Bubble Barrier in all the rivers that spill out into the ocean! So much plastic waste would be captured, and the oceans would be so much cleaner and safer for all the marine life in it. Bubble Barriers could be a beneficial addition because they capture waste deep in the water, as well as smaller pieces of plastic that garbage boats on the surface miss.
