When it rains, litter washes off the streets and ends up in our waterways. You've probably seen it — the ugly assortment of plastic bags, bottles and cans, and other flotsam and jetsam. These "floatables" are unsanitary, dangerous to humans and wildlife, and an aesthetic affront to our riverfronts and lakefront.

Much of this floating pollution comes from combined sewer overflows (CSOs), which drain urban areas and overflow in heavy rains. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), for instance, has 126 permitted outfall locations, which may discharge in the Greater Cleveland area. Other local sewer districts that serve older urban areas also have CSOs.

Recently, NEORSD has installed floatables control facilities on 10 of its worst CSO sites. The picture above right shows the facility on the lakefront at Gordon Park. It has a net that captures floatable objects. Sewer district staff inspect it after rain events and call a contractor to replace the net when it's full. Thus the trash ends up in a landfill rather than in the lake.

The 10 control facilities are capturing tons of floatable trash per year and are helping NEORSD comply with federal regulations for minimum CSO controls.

Other lakefront locations for floatables control facilities include the west end of Burke Airport by the USS Cod Museum, the Forest City Yacht Club, E. 55th Marina, and E. 156th Street North of Lakeshore Boulevard. Other stream locations include Dugway Brook in Bratenahl, Kingsbury Run in the Flats, Shaw Brook, Big Creek near Brookside Park, and Euclid Creek at Lakeshore Boulevard.

At right, you can see the visual impact when floatables are not cleaned up. The picture was taken during Summer 2006 at North Coast Harbor behind the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.