Sand River litter trap on 07/04/2012.

On 07/04/2012 Gavin Lawson inspected and recorded what he saw at the metal litter trap in the flood plain north of Zandvlei before the confluence of the Langevlei River.

This is the litter trap that Zandvlei Trust members lobbied the City for in 1988, and had installed in 1989.

The issue of litter coming down the Sand River is not new. The backyard dwellers in Retreat along the Sand River have no, toilets, refuse removal and many do not have access the piped water. Their night soil and junk goes straight into the Sand River. It magically disappears when it rains.

The Peninsula Paddle has helped highlight this issue as well.

This is how backed up the water in the channel was 10 metres from the Coniston Road bridge.
Not far to go before it overflows. This was just before mid day.

This view shows the overflow area, the item on the right is a plastic shopping trolley.

The overflow working.

The metal grid is blocked. The view is looking south towards Zandvlei. The houses in
the background are in Lakeside.

The overflow area allowing the water to bypass the litter trap.

Looking north up the Sand River at the backed up water, overflowing and bypassing 
the totally blocked litter trap.

The trap completely blocked up and and the water is deviated into the overflow area,
to prevent the water backing up and overflowing its banks further upstream.
There is immense pressure holding all the junk against the grid. At this stage it is too dangerous for anyone to try and remove anything.

Here comes a 2 litre cool drink bottle.

Over it goes......

.....into the channel bypassing the metal litter trap.

The bottle on its way down to the first litter net at the corner opposite Uitsig channel in the Marina.

This is where the speed of the water flow was determined for this section, it was moving with some force.
The flood waters can reach the top of these walls on many occasions. The sill is about 1,6 metres high, more than shoulder height for most adults.

A local volunteer cleaning the trap in 2001.