A new litter trap for urban drainage systems

Abstract

Litter is generated in shopping areas and is washed or blown into stormwater drainage systems. These convey the litter to open water bodies leading to the accumulation of non-biodegradable litter on the banks and beaches of urban waterways and bay foreshores. The increasing public awareness of the problem prompted the State Government of Victoria to provide funding to develop an innovative patented litter trap known as the In-line Litter Separator (ILLS). The ILLS is retrofitted to the drainage system downstream of shopping areas and removes litter and other pollutants from the passing stormwater. In a two-year development program, ten prototypes were installed and tested in the Melbourne and metropolitan area. The results were so successful that the ILLS is now manufactured in Australia and overseas under license from Swinburne University. This paper presents the performance criteria, the design concepts, the outcomes of laboratory and hydrologic modelling and the analyses of prototype test results that led to the commercial production of the ILLS.