Bandalong Litter Trap

Table of Content About us

Mission

Objectives

Partnerships

Let’s Talk Trash

The Bandalong Litter Trap

How it Works

Stats/Construction/Requirements

Trash Tallies

About usLaunched in Washington, DC’s Ward 7, Groundwork Anacostia River DC (GWARDC) is a non-profit that utilizes environmental education and restoration to promote community development in underserved areas in the greater Washington region.

GWARDC is an affiliate of Groundwork USA, a network of trusts built on partnership and linked together by the Groundwork USA national office, with support from the Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Program and the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program.

Mission Our Mission is to bring about the sustained

regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships. These partnerships strive to empower communities and promote environmental, economic, and social well being.

GWARDC unites with local communities and organizations to achieve the following objectives:

Increase the capacity of residents and stakeholders to improve, care for and promote their local environment.

Reclaim vacant and neglected lands for conservation, recreation, and economic development.

Reconnect residents to their neighborhood environment, including parks, open spaces, and the Anacostia River and its tributaries.

Partnerships• Environmental Protection

Agency• National Park Service River,

Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program

• Groundwork USA• District Department of

Environment• Anacostia Riverkeeper• River Network• Anacostia Watershed Society• Alice Ferguson Foundation

Let’s Talk Trash!Trash has been a long term problem in the Anacostia Watershed. It negatively impacts the look and health of communities that surround it, interfering with recreational use and enjoyment of the River. Its effect impacts human and wildlife.

The District of Columbia has a combined overflow sewer system which releases nearly 2 billion gallons of raw sewage and trash into the river each year. Storm water also washes an estimated 70,000 tons of trash into the river yearly1.1 Anacostia River Keeper

Almost every distressed community has an equally challenged creek or river. Groundwork Trusts help these “forgotten” streams by leading multi-year campaigns to clean them up and build local stewardship for renewing these important community assets.

Groundwork Anacostia River DC in collaboration with the Anacostia River Keeper received grant funding from the District Department of Environment to handle the maintenance of a litter trap. The first in the Western Hemisphere, the trap is one of many that will be placed on portions of the Anacostia River’s tributaries to lessen the amount of trash that flows into the river. It is checked and cleaned weekly by Groundwork DC staff and volunteers. The current trap is located in Kenilworth Park in Northeast DC in the Watts Branch Creek.

The BandalongLitter TrapTM

Manufactured and installed by Storm Water Systems of Cleveland, Georgia, the trap is designed to float in waterways in order to capture litter before it flows downstream by using the current to guide debris into the trap.Continuously operating 365 days a year without any mechanical assistance to capture floating litter, the Bandalong is a proven cost effective solution to a growing litter problem.

Statistics and Construction• Two sizes: 5’ X 22’ and weighs approximately 600

lbs. 10’ X 29’ and weighs approximately 1100 lbs.

• Constructed of Aluminum and High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

• Pre-assembled offsite for efficient installation

• Manufactured in Cleveland, GA

• No nets or fencing underneath, fish and wildlife are unaffected by the traps

• Anchors keep the Bandalong Litter Trap stationary in waterways

Water RequirementsWater Requirements

• Requires 8” - 10” for flotation, but may temporarily sit in a dry area

• Works effectively with a flow rate of eight to ten feet of water per second, but can be designed to withstand higher flow rates

• Ideal for areas with current more than six feet wide.

• Effective in rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, drainage culverts with tidal basins, ports, harbors, marinas, etc.

• Rises and falls with water levels and is ideal for tidal reaches

• Litter that is caught in the trap will not be dislodged by wind, choppy currents or tides

How it works Anchored into place for maximum efficiency

Patented gate prevents litter and debris from exiting the trap

Litter and debris floating on top of the water enters into the trap and is captured for later removal

Groundwork Anacostia staff and volunteers monitor/clean trap once a week, especially after rainfall.

Trash is sorted into recyclables, non-recyclables and organic debris and weighed for data collection.

Cleaning the Litter Trap

Bandalong Trash Tallies(March 2011- August 2011)

Weight of Bags (Pounds) 3151

Weight of Tires or Big Tickets (Pounds) +1920

Total Weight =5071

Average Hours to Clean Trap (Monthly) 10

Plastic Bottles29%

Plastic Grocery

Bags1% Glass

Bottles5%Other

Plastics1%Aluminum

Cans0%

Styrofoam3%

Recreational Balls1%

Organic Debris60%

Types of Trash

For more information or to volunteer contact:

202-506-3867Groundwork Anacostia River DC

www.groundworkdc.org

mail@groundworkdc.org