Solid waste traps or Trash traps

The risk of water contamination due to solid waste is a huge threat in modern society. To maintain water quality in a  surface water body, solid waste traps are essential. Contamination can come in from all sorts of inlet drains as well as from littering

A solid waste trap can be as simple as a metal grill that allows water to pass by freely while arresting the flow of the solid waste particles. A crucial aspect to consider for the design of a solid waste trap is the ease of cleaning and maintenance. The material of the trap and the scale of the trap are decided based on the budget, local situation and the volume of waste coming in.

Here are some solid waste traps we have encountered in our work and some others from the internet.

Here is another crude but effective design of a solid waste trap that is being used for a farm in Devanahalli. The farmer uses water from the stormwater drain and traps all the solid waste coming in with the net in the simple stone structure as you can see in the below picture.

A floating trash barrier developed by AlphaMERS Ltd. won the clean water body challenge using simple and crude mesh methods. This has helped clean up some prominent lakes in the country. A screenshot of the article has been attached below.