Tasmanian first project working to fix contaminated storm water

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Contaminated storm water can wreak havoc on marine environments - but a tasmanian first project is working to fix that. Kingborough council has installed a floating wetlands treatment system - harnessing the power of plants to help clean up storm water.

Transcript

00:00 These floating platforms behind me may not look like much, but they're actually helping

00:06 clear up waterways in a populated Hobart suburb.

00:10 But how do they actually work?

00:12 So we've got a grass pollutant trap that is underneath us now, which is stripping out

00:16 your coke bottles, your plastics, your straws.

00:21 Then it's going in behind us.

00:22 It arrives here, at the Kingston stormwater wetlands, floating on top of 600 square metres

00:28 of recycled plastic pontoons, with plants growing on top.

00:32 The platforms trap pollutants and other toxins before it flows through to creeks and other

00:36 waterways.

00:38 The vegetation also absorbs excess nutrients, which are a common cause of aquatic weed,

00:43 algae and sludge.

00:44 And what we're doing by removing this pollution and this phosphorus and nitrogen is we're

00:50 stopping harmful things like algae blooms, for example, which will bring the fish back

00:55 into this area.

00:57 We're very excited about this because it is 300% more efficient than traditional wetlands.

01:03 These floating wetlands are also helping protect the natural habitat of native plants and wildlife

01:08 in the area.

01:09 We've already got some ducks and other bird life that are hanging around here.

01:14 Future-proofing water treatment systems for growing communities.

01:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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