The Garbage Man Can

Baltimore has a bit of a floating debris problem. This outflow channel comes down from the city into the harbor and when the tide is flowing out, the channel is helping thousands and thousands of pieces of trash float down into the open waters.

Luckily, the issue is not without checks. This floating barrier collects a large portion of the trash before it is able to make it out into the harbor. Then, who comes to the rescue but the garbage man, piloting the garbage boat!

I have seen many different garbage trucks in my life, and a few more interesting machines to collect trash like street sweepers and leaf vacuum trucks, but this was by far the most sophisticated garbage collecting boat I’ve ever seen!

Front gates that raise and lower work in concert with two conveyor belts in series, and a all of this is mounted to a nimble sea craft. See how it works in the video below:

As you may notice from the video, some of the trash does get away. The very actions by which the boat collects most of the trash actually disturb the floating barrier and allow some trash to float past. Still, the combined solution of the floating barrier and garbage boat do prevent a lot of aquatic pollution.