Trash Collection Net Ramps up Pollution Prevention

When the city of Irving, Texas, was updating its Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping Plan for one of its large municipal operations facilities, a need was recognized for trash capture.

The facility stores solid waste collection vehicles, so in order to have a positive impact on storm water quality, the project team decided to install a trash collection net at the end of the main outfall pipe.

“I believe that as storm water managers we are obligated to do everything in our power to keep our creeks, streams and rivers as healthy as possible. We are responsible for everything that discharges into the greater watersheds and should be good stewards of this precious natural resource. If not us, then who?” said Cody Cash, drainage programs specialist for the city of Irving.

In Irving, a five-man maintenance and equipment crew is responsible for all storm water operations and maintenance, so with the help of a few tools, they installed the pilot project net in late summer 2020 and to date, the net has captured 750 pounds of trash. The team installed a second net at another site that has captured 1,425 pounds of trash from January 2021 to September 2021.

But, getting approval for the second net was a challenge. The team had to wait to gather enough data from the first net in order to gain approval to continue the second installation. Currently, the team is working on locating two more suitable outfalls.