A Dutch startup of sailors and surfers have found a way to stop trash flowing into the ocean with the help of bubbles. The Great Bubble Barrier is a perforated tube that is positioned on riverbeds and creates a curtain of bubbles which nudges waste to the banks for collection.
Around 8 million tonnes of plastic end up annually in the ocean. It has been discovered that 60-80 per cent of this waste originates in rivers. This lo-fi pollution solution has been proven to be highly effective and has intercepted 86 percent of inland water flotsam before it reaches the ocean and plastic particles as small as 1mm have been caught in the system.
The bubble curtain is created by an air compressor run by renewable electricity which pumps air into the riverbed tube which is laid diagonally across the waterway. The bubbles bring plastics to the surface and flows the waste sideways into a catchment system. The method operates 24/7 and doesn’t obstruct aquatic life or river traffic.
The first bubble barrier was installed in 2019 on a waterway in Amsterdam. A second was installed in 2022 in the mouth of the Oude Rijn river at Katwijk in mid-western Netherlands. Following these successful Dutch trials, two more bubble barriers are now being planned for rivers in Portugal and Germany.
Bildquelle:
- Bubble-Barrier-Amsterdam-in-Westerdok-Credits-The-Great-Bubble-Barrier-min-1500×0-c-default 2: GBB
