Business_Spotlight_-_Nr.2_2020

66 Business Spotlight 2/2020 TECHNOLOGY

spiration for the bubble barrier from a

water treatment plant he saw while

studying in Australia in 2015. “At one

stage, they aerate the water and, on a big

surface, put air bubbles like a big jacuz-

zi,” he says. “The small plastic pieces that

people throw in the toilet all collected in

one corner and that was the kind of spark

for me: if you can guide plastic to the side,

can’t you do it in a more directed way and

on purpose in a river?”

Three Dutch sailors and friends —

Anne Marieke Eveleens, Francis Zoet and

Saskia Studer — were discussing the rub-

bish problem over a beer in Amsterdam

one evening, around the same time as

Ehrhorn was in Australia. They came up

with the idea of a curtain of bubbles that

sifts out waste but allows fish and boats

to pass through. The two teams came

together to work on the idea. They had

the help of a €500,000 Postcode Lottery

Green Challenge award and other prizes.

The first operational barrier in Amster-

dam, which will run 24 hours a day for

three years, will function in addition to

dredging operations, which currently

collect 42,000 kilograms of large plastics

from the Dutch capital’s waterways each

year. Bubble barrier waste will be collect-

ed and then analysed by plastics action

group Schone Rivieren (“Clean Rivers”).

aerate sth.

[(eEreIt]

, etw. mit Sauerstoff

anreichern

bubble barrier

[(bVb&l )bÄriE]

, Barriere aus Luftblasen

dredging operations

[(dredZIN QpE)reIS&nz]

, Baggerarbeiten,

Ausbaggern

sift sth. out

[)sIft (aUt]

, etw. aussieben

spark [spA:k]

, Funke; hier: Auslöser

tube [tju:b]

, Rohr

water treatment plant

[(wO:tE )tri:tmEnt

plA:nt]

, Wasseraufbereitungs-

anlage

How the bubble barrier can stop plastic flowing into the sea

1. The bubble barrier is created by
   pumping air through a tube with
   holes. The tube is laid diagonally
   across the bottom of a river.
   2. The rising bubbles result in an upward current that
   brings plastic waste to the surface. The water flow
   directs it to one side of the river, stopping it from
   being carried farther downstream and to the sea.

Tube

Bubble barrier

Fish and wildlife

can easily pass

through

No effect on ships or boats

Plastics are directed to the surface and side of the river