Professor Trash Wheel

Professor Trash Wheel. . , Harnessing the power of nature to help keep the Baltimore Harbor clean , The amazing machine you see before you uses a combination of old and new technology to harness the power of water and sunlight to pick up litter and debris flowing down Harris Creek., The current of the stream provides power to turn the Trash Wheel during rain storms, which lifts trash and debris from the water and deposits it in a dumpster barge. A solar panel array provides additional power to keep the machine running even when there is not enough water current. When the dumpster is full, it is towed away by boat and a new dumpster is put in place., Harris Creek Watershed , A watershed is an area of land that all drains to the same body of water. Harris Creek's watershed is entirely piped. It runs beneath east Baltimore City and empties into the Baltimore Harbor here. Harris Creek was once an open flowing stream but was covered an piped in the early 19th century to create more land for an expanding Baltimore City. The creek's watershed covers 1,271 acres of land and currently is home to two parks and approximately 44,000 people., Where does the trash come from? , When it rains, water carries litter off the streets and into storm drains, which flow unfiltered into streams like Harris Creek. Without a device like the Trash Wheel, Baltimore's littler can end up in the Chesapeake Bay and even in the Atlantic Ocean., Help us put Professor Trash Wheel on a diet! , You can help put Professor Trash Wheel on a diet by disposing of food containers, bottles, cigarettes and other waste in the appropriate trash or recycling containers. You can also help by making sure that you and your friends recycle at home, at school and at work., The Trash Wheel project is led by Healthy Harbor, an initiative of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore. Our goal is a swimmable, fishable Baltimore Harbor. For more information and to find out how you can get involved, visit www.HealthyHarbor.org., Harris Creek's History , Historically Harris Creek was home to shipyards that produced a variety of ships including the USS Constellation, one of the country's first naval vessel, in 1797., Today, Harris Creek flows under 17 neighborhoods in East Baltimore and empties out here.