City of Rockingham waterways rubbish free thanks to LitterBusters

City of Rockingham’s LitterBusters teams have been hard at work after a series of recent storms washed large amounts of debris and rubbish into the City’s drainage systems.

Teams collected rubbish from the City’s main waterways in order to protect vital environmental asset Lake Richmond, as well as collected from a couple of isolated instances of illegal dumping.

Collected items included shopping trolleys, single use shopping bags, tennis balls, witches hats, washing baskets and plastics, with the teams working hard to eliminate as much pollution as possible from waterways and drains.

Mayor Barry Sammels praised the LitterBusters team for their hard work.

“The City’s LitterBusters play a vital role in helping to keep our community as tidy as possible,” Mr Sammels said.

“In recent weeks the City has seen a number of strong weather events, with heavy winds and rain pushing loose bits of debris into nearby drains.

“The bad weather, along with a very small minority of people who continue to illegally dump materials into the drains, can cause major issues for the City’s waterways.

“Ultimately our aim is to stop this pollution from reaching the main runoff point, which is Lake Richmond.”

There are three main drain systems in the City that channel water into Lake Richmond. Water Corporation is responsible for managing the drains while the City is responsible for cleaning the litter surrounding drainage infrastructure.

Mr Sammels said while LitterBusters continued to do their best to keep streets, parks and drains clean, he encouraged the community to be mindful of the impacts of littering and illegal dumping.

“By correctly disposing of our rubbish we can ensure that the City and its wonderful environmental areas like Lake Richmond remain in pristine condition for future generations,” he said.

Mr Sammels also confirmed the City and Water Corporation were investigating the potential for drainage nets to be used in the City’s drainage systems, similar to those trialled in City of Kwinana, which could capture waste before it is discharged into the City’s nature reserves.

For more information on LitterBusters visit rockingham.wa.gov.au/Litterbusters or download the LitterBusters app on Google Play or the App Store.