Mr. Trash Wheel, officially called the Inner Harbor Water Wheel, is a trash interceptor, a water-wheel vessel that removes trash from the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. It is powered by water power and solar power, and the machine places trash from the harbor onto an onboard conveyor belt which routes it into dumpsters on the vessel. Mr. Trash Wheel was invented by John Kellett in 2008, who launched a pilot vessel at that time. A larger vessel was later developed; it replaced the pilot vessel and was launched in May 2014. The Mr. Trash Wheel vessel is part of the Waterfront Partnership of the City of Baltimore's "Healthy Harbor Plan."
Video Mr. Trash Wheel
Overview
Mr. Trash Wheel is a water-wheel vessel that removes trash from Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Rubbish from the streets of Baltimore is flushed into storm drains, and it ends up in the Inner Harbor. Mr. Trash Wheel is powered by the current from the Jones Falls river, and backup power is provided by solar panels when the current is sluggish. The power sources propel a water wheel, which powers a conveyor belt. Mr. Trash Wheel removes floating debris using rotating forks that dip into and out of the water, and which then place the trash onto a conveyor belt which moves it into a dumpster. The water wheel can be controlled remotely on the Internet. Mr. Trash Wheel was constructed using $720,000 of public and private funding.
Maps Mr. Trash Wheel
History
Mr. Trash Wheel was invented by John Kellett, who developed the idea when observing trash in the harbor while passing Pier 6 on his walk to work. A pilot trash wheel was built and launched in the harbor by Kellett in 2008, and after this, Kellett built a larger machine that was launched in May 2014, which was able to pick up larger matter and held two dumpsters onboard. The use of two dumpsters allows the vessel to operate longer, without having to go back to shore to empty the single dumpster that was used on the initial pilot vessel.
On April 20, 2015, after the first significant rain storm of the season, Mr. Trash Wheel removed 19 tons of garbage from Baltimore's waterfront on that one day. The previous record for debris removal occurred on May 16, 2014, when the machine removed 11 tons of refuse on that day. At the end of the third quarter in 2016, (which occurred on September 30, 2016), it was noted that Mr. Trash Wheel had collected over 1,000,000 pounds (500 short tons) of trash since its inception.
Mr. Trash Wheel is part of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore's "Healthy Harbor Plan", which has a goal to clean up the harbor to the point of making it swimmable by the year 2020. In 2015, the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore began fundraising efforts to construct a second water wheel like Mr. Trash Wheel for use "off the Boston Street Pier Park" at the Harris Creek outfall in Canton, Baltimore. This second trash wheel has been given the nickname "Professor Trash Wheel."
References
Further reading
- "Solar-Powered Water Wheel is Cleaning Baltimore's Inner Harbor". NBC News. October 29, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2017.Â
- Baker, Brandon (July 22, 2014). "Solar-Powered Water Wheel Can Clean 50,000 Pounds of Baltimore’s Trash Per Day". Moyers & Company. Retrieved March 16, 2017.Â
- "Mr. Trash Wheel, une machine qui nettoie le port de Baltimore" (in French). Canoe.ca. Retrieved March 18, 2017.Â
- Baker, Brandon (25 June 2014). "How a Solar-Powered Water Wheel Can Clean 50,000 Pounds of Trash Per Day From Baltimore's Inner Harbor". Eco Watch. Retrieved March 16, 2017.Â
- Boteler, Cody (July 25, 2016). "Baltimore's Mr. Trash Wheel could get a cousin in Hawaii". WMAR-TV. Retrieved March 18, 2017.Â
External links
- Trash Wheel Project. Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore.
- Mr. Trash Wheel Twitter site
- Healthy Harbor Baltimore
- Canton Water Wheel
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