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Hobart City Council has many types of stormwater drainage, including: stormwater pipes; stormwater pits; kerb and guttering; rivulets and creeks; and the dish drains on sides of roads.
Council owns over 339 kilometres of stormwater mains; over 550 of other forms of stormwater assets (including kerb and gutters and dish drains); and rivulets and creeks that run for over 60 kilometres in length. And don't forget all of those kilometres of private stormwater pipes and drains connecting to the Council stormwater pipes and drains.
Water runoff from urban areas, including roofs, roads and footpaths makes its way through the stormwater drainage system and often finds its way ultimately into the Derwent Estuary.
Unfortunately included in this runoff is often litter and debris from human activity.
To prevent this litter and debris from entering the Derwent Estuary, Hobart City Council has many different devices in various locations within the stormwater drainage system. Such devices are there to stop litter, vegetation and wooden debris, sediment and other gross pollutants from entering the stormwater drainage system at the entry point or at the end of the line of a stormwater system.
These devices include:
Floating litter traps
Floating litter trap on Hobart Rivulet, Macquarie Point
Floating litter trap on New Town Rivulet, New Town Bay
Litter socks
Litter sock at McRobies Gully outlet into Hobart Rivulet
Small litter traps in stormwater pits
Litter traps in stormwater grates around shopping precincts
Debris racks
Debris rack on Hobart Rivulet
Debris rack on Hobart Rivulet near Gore Street
Debris rack at Lambert Rivulet prior to it being piped under the Queenborough sportsground
Debris and sediment traps
Clearing the debris from the weir on New Town Rivulet at New Town Bay
Sediment weirs
Clearing the sediment from the weir on Hobart Rivulet near Barrack Street
Boulder traps
Boulder trap on Hobart Rivulet at Cascade Gardens
Debris rack near the boulder trap on Hobart Rivulet at Cascade Gardens
In-line/in-pipe gross pollutant traps
Installing an in-line gross pollutant trap at Market Place
Hobart City Council continues to implement a wide-ranging program of stormwater quality improvement initiatives. A number of these types of projects have been completed with stormwater pollution "hot-spots" being targeted. Further information relating to these projects can be found here.
In addition to these devices, Council undertakes street cleaning using large sweeper trucks, small mobile footpath sweepers, other mechanical sweeping and sweeping by hand.
One of Council's footpath sweepers along Collins Street
In general suburban streets and footpaths are cleaned every 10 to 12 weeks, with streets in the Central Business District, Sullivans Cove and other commercial areas are cleaned on a more regular basis.
Council also has in place an Autumn Leaf Cleaning program, which usually commences in May.
Information relating to Council's street cleaning can be found here.
All of these types of devices and street cleaning works assist in collecting and retaining large volumes of litter and debris ensuring that the concentration of pollutants entering the Derwent Estuary will be significantly diminished.
A reduction in litter pollution discharged from our stormwater systems and Rivulets ensures a healthier and cleaner estuarine environmental for marine life in the Derwent Estuary.
The community also benefits from these devices, by increasing the visual and physical amenity of the surrounding areas, overall making these areas much tidier and more attractive.
Remember......ALL DRAINS LEAD TO THE SEA!
Queries regarding gross pollutant traps and Council's stormwater systems and rivulets can be addressed to the Environmental Engineering Unit on (03) 6238 2900.