Sand River litter trap

Zandvlei Trust members lobbied the City of Cape Town to install litter traps in the Sand and Langevlei Rivers during the late 1980's.

This pile of rubbish containing asbestos roof sheeting, fibre glass paneling, a foam matress, plastic crates, car tyres and plenty of plastic debris was removed by contractors on 13 June 2006, after a heavy storm washed these items on the trap.

This view shows the water pressure has trapped smaller debris against the steel bars and the water level has risen about 1, 6 meters and flooded the circular area lined with low steel mesh filtering traps which also helps to slow the water speed down. Then the water washes over the edge and back into the canal on its way to Zandvlei.

The men are standing on the trapped rubbish and trying to pull it away from the bars with a rope. This method worked.

A local volunteer cleaning the trap in 2001.