Why Are Debris Booms A Necessity For Clean Water Bodies?

We explain why debris booms are necessary for clean waterbodies in this blog post, highlighting the capabilities of our Permanent Debris Booms and Modular Debris Booms.

The accumulation of debris, which poses many risks for operators tasked with keeping them clear, is one of the most difficult aspects of maintaining and managing waterways and waterbodies. If left unchecked, debris can cause significant damage, flooding, and pollution.

Debris booms are a useful addition to any operator's arsenal because they are designed to exclude or contain not only naturally occurring floating debris such as tree branches or seaweed/reeds, but also effectively block man-made trash that may be floating in the waters.

This not only keeps waterways clean and potable but also improves their efficiency and performance of the operations since less time and resources are spent on maintenance. It also protects critical infrastructure from disruption.

Permanent Debris Booms, as the name suggests, are permanently installed to contain and recover floating trash.

These booms have a distinct flush face that allows for the laminar deflection of barrels, logs, trees, reeds, duckweed, and other materials into a collection area where they can be easily extracted for recycling. They have been designed in such a way that work boats can also rub along the face of the debris boom, scooping up materials – this eliminates the need to pick at debris inefficiently, a method that can also risk damaging the floats, as with conventional Debris booms.

One of our PDB600s was recently installed on a project in Norland, Canada, where it is preventing debris from entering a water intake screen. The 20-meter-long boom comes with a roller compensator to match varying water levels and has been designed to minimize debris maintenance while completely eliminating mechanical maintenance, which offers significant benefits.

With a nominal break load of 8 tonnes, its 3-ply rubber/polyester 600mm deep boom curtain has a very high resistance to puncture and tearing. All of this is protected by a 6.5t shear bolt system. Tougher boom Curtains are available as well and will be installed based on the customers’ requirements.

Furthermore, unique buoyancy floats are attached behind the curtain only on the downstream side, providing them with maximum protection from any potential damage.

Our MDB400/600 series of booms, which can be easily transported from the back of a van or pickup, are ideal for temporary tasks such as clearing drainage channels of aquatic weeds and mowing grass banks. The 3-meter sections, which come with temporary ground anchors, can be quickly assembled on the bank for downstream deployment.

Once installed, weeds, grass, and reeds drifting in the current collect against the boom rather than clogging culverts and sluices further downstream, with debris picked up and removed from along the boom.

ADOR Tech, As the Bolina Booms representative in Canada, offers a full range of Bolina Booms Products and services.

For more information please do not hesitate to contact us.