Litter trap installed in Hennops River
“The system is planned in three stages, of which the first stage will be that of a trap catching larger items, the second for catching smaller items, and the third, those really fine items.”
Hennops Revival resumed work on installing a litter trap as part of a litter catchment system in the Hennops River in the area of Irene Country Club, Centurion, and will bio-monitor its water henceforth.
Tarryn Johnston, founder of the Hennops Revival, a local non-profit organisation and public benefit organisation (PBO) said they started to build an access road in the golf course for the municipal truck to access the waste
removed from the “soon to be implemented litter catchment system”.
“Access road machinery were sponsored by Bobcat Company South Africa, such an excellent new partnership.
“We have learned that nets get broken too easily and get clogged up so quickly, causing the bridges that they are attached to, to lose integrity, as well as the potential for damming and breaking banks.”
Johnston said subsequently, a custom-designed multi-phased system was designed.
“It is all trial and error, but I’m hopeful that this system will create positive change. We can change the design as we go if we see problems arising. We could ultimately add a pulley system to easily remove the waste.
“The system is planned in three stages. The first stage will be that of a trap catching larger items, the second for catching smaller items, and the third, those really fine items.”
Johnston said they will henceforth do bio-monitoring to see what effect it has on the water quality.
“So first we have a pilot project since we had an amazing time learning about Vetiver grass and how they grow, different phases, certain indicators, roots, planting methods, where they all come from and how long they can grow. The record for roots is 11.5m and leaves, about 2.5m.” She said they are “very intelligent plants, they extract toxins from the water”.
Johnston explained the plants can be scientifically tested from the roots and leaves to see exactly what has been absorbed.
“Our partner, Biosphere Enviro Solutions, have conducted a pre-catchment system installation, bio-monitoring, to determine river health and water quality effects that will be monitored over a while.”
“Thus to have the necessary data as evidence of the catchment system benefits and encourage replication of these systems in more areas. Brand IQ is sponsoring the installation and materials as well as the design of the litter
catchment system.”
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