trash interceptor
{{Short description|Device on a river to capture debris}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
File:Mr. Trash Wheel--Baltimore MD.jpg trash interceptor used at the Baltimore Inner Harbor]]
A trash interceptor is a device in a river to collect and remove floating debris – before the debris flows out into a harbor, for instance.
Mr. Trash Wheel
File:Mr. Trash Wheel at Pier Six Pavilion.jpgs on Mr. Trash Wheel's starboard and aft]]
{{main|Mr. Trash Wheel}}
Installed in May 2014, the water wheel trash interceptor known as Mr. Trash Wheel, officially the Inner Harbor Water Wheel, is the world's first permanent water wheel trash interceptor.{{cite web
|url=http://ecowatch.com/2015/12/17/solar-powered-water-wheel/
|title=Solar-Powered Water Wheel Removes 350 Tons of Trash From Baltimore Harbor
|date=17 December 2015
|access-date=24 January 2016
|first=Lorraine |last=Chow
|website=EcoWatch
}} It sits at the mouth of the Jones Falls River in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. A February 2015 agreement with a local waste-to-energy plant is believed to make Baltimore the first city to use reclaimed waterway debris to generate electricity.{{cite news |url=http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/2015/2/11/inner-harbors-amazing-trash-wheel-just-got-more-amazing |title=Inner Harbor's Amazing Trash Wheel Just Got Better |newspaper=Baltimore Magazine |date=February 11, 2015 |access-date=December 22, 2015 }}
The Jones Falls river watershed drains fifty-eight square miles of land outside of Baltimore and is a significant source of trash that enters the harbor. Garbage collected by Mr. Trash Wheel could come from anywhere in the watershed.{{cite web |url=http://baltimorewaterfront.com/healthy-harbor/water-wheel/ |title=Mr. Trash Wheel: Using the Power of Nature to Keep Our Harbor Clean |website=Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore |access-date=January 24, 2016 |archive-date=January 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113185051/http://baltimorewaterfront.com/healthy-harbor/water-wheel/ |url-status=dead }} Operated by solar and hydro power, the wheel moves continuously, removing garbage and dumping it into an attached dumpster; its daily capacity is estimated at 25 tons. In its first 18 months of operation, it removed more than 350 tons of litter from Baltimore's landmark and tourist attraction, including approximately 200,000 bottles, 173,000 potato chip bags, and 6.7 million cigarette butts.{{cite web |url=http://ecowatch.com/2014/06/25/solar-water-wheel-trashbaltimore-inner-harbor/ |title=How a Solar-Powered Water Wheel Can Clean 50,000 Pounds of Trash Per Day From Baltimore's Inner Harbor |date=June 25, 2014 |access-date=January 24, 2016 |first=Brandon |last=Baker |website=EcoWatch }}{{cite web |url=http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/nature/mr-trash-wheel-removes-4000000-cigarettes-from-baltimore-harbor/ |title='Mr. Trash Wheel' Removes 6,700,000 Cigarettes from Baltimore Harbor |date=April 22, 2015 |access-date=January 24, 2016 |first=Danny |last=Clemens |website=Discovery }} The water wheel has been very successful at trash removal, visibly decreasing the amount of garbage that collects in the harbor, especially after a rainfall.{{Cite twitter
|title=This is what the harbor used to look like after a rain storm before I arrived on the scene.
|date=18 November 2015
|user=MrTrashWheel
|number=667044815746519040
}}
After the success of Mr. Trash Wheel, the Waterfront Partnership raised money to build a second water wheel at the end of Harris Creek, an entirely piped stream that flows beneath Baltimore's Canton neighborhood and empties into the Baltimore Harbor.{{cite web |url=http://www.cantonwaterwheel.com/ |title=Canton Water Wheel |access-date=January 24, 2016 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/mr-trash-wheel-baltimore/ |title=This Autonomous Trash-Collecting Boat Is Making Baltimore Harbor Less Disgusting |website=Digital Trends |date=October 15, 2015 |access-date=January 24, 2016 |first=Kelly |last=Hodgkins }} The planned new water wheel was inaugurated in December, 2016, and dubbed "Professor Trash Wheel".{{cite news|last1=McDaniels|first1=Andrea|title='Professor Trash Wheel' makes its debut in Canton|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-professor-trash-wheel-20161204-story.html|accessdate=5 December 2016|work=The Baltimore Sun|date=December 4, 2016}} Two more trash wheels, "Captain Trash Wheel" and "Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West", were added in 2018 and 2021 respectively.
{{cite news
|url=http://www.wbaltv.com/article/you-can-reinvent-the-wheel-baltimore-welcomes-captain-trash-wheel/21086797
|title=You can reinvent the wheel: Baltimore welcomes Captain Trash Wheel
|last=Robinson
|first=Lisa
|date=5 June 2018
|work=WBAL-TV
|access-date=5 June 2018
}}
{{cite news
|url=https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2021/03/11/meet-baltimores-fourth-trash-wheel-gwynnda-the-good-wheel-of-the-west/
|title=Meet Baltimore's Fourth Trash Wheel: Gwynnda The Good Wheel Of The West
|date=11 March 2021
|access-date=11 March 2021
}}
River Thames passive debris collector
There are several passive debris collectors (PDCs) on the River Thames in London, including one by the Houses of Parliament. Unlike Baltimore's Mr. Trash Wheel they are totally passive and any debris collected by them must be lifted out by the use of a crane-equipped boat.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7YJXNfJwdg Cleaner Thames – Port of London Authority passive debris collector takes on Thames litter] on YouTube, Nov 30, 2015
See also
- Bubble curtain – used to reduce liquid or debris floating on the surface from spreading
- The Ocean Cleanup – nonprofit environment organization building interceptors for 1,000 rivers