Litter trap installation completes Murphey Candler watershed project
Other improvements included stream bank restoration, lake dredging
Brookhaven, GA, July 14, 2020 -- The third and final project planned for 2020 at Murphey Candler Lake/Nancy Creek Watershed was completed this week with the installation of a Bandalong Litter Trap system or “floating trash rack.” The trap will help keep the lake’s waters clean and help improve its purification properties.
Two other projects previously completed this year are Murphy Candler Lake dredging and the lakeshore restoration on the east shores of Murphy Candler Lake.
The installation of the Litter Trap required the construction of a gravel access drive to the North Fork running from Candler Lake East to the North Fork of Nancy Creek above Murphey Candler Lake. The access drive was laid out in a manner to minimize the number of trees that had to be removed and to minimize the impact on potential wetlands within the area.
This Murphey Candler watershed improvement project has been a work in progress for most of this year and stayed on track despite handicaps created by the coronavirus pandemic. The Litter Trap will provide an effective means to collect trash that would normally flow into Murphey Candler Lake from upstream properties and Interstate 285. The trap collects litter floating in live streams by capturing the trash floating along the top and holding it in a cage that can be lifted out of the system and emptied.
The Brookhaven Liter Trap is only the fifth one to be installed in Georgia and the 21st trap to be installed in the United States. The Georgia traps have been installed in Atlanta, Waycross, Gainesville and near Savannah.
In addition to helping keep Murphey Candler Lake clean, the trap will be used as an educational tool as it will show the amount of trash that flows through the creek into the lake after a storm event. Regular maintenance will be performed to remove the trash as it is collected.
The Bandalong Litter Trap system funnels debris coming into Murphey Candler Lake into a catch basket that can be removed and disposed of properly.
“In the summer of 2016, the Brookhaven City Council adopted the Nancy Creek Watershed Improvement Plan and directed the Department to implement priority projects,” recalled Public Works Director Hari Karikaran. “We were able to complete three of those projects this year at Murphey Candler Lake. In addition to completing these three projects this year, engineering design for the streambank restoration from I-285 to north of Murphy Candler Lake and construction contract bidding for streambank restoration from Murphy Candler Lake Emergency Spillway to Nancy Creek are currently underway. These projects will significantly improve the water quality of Nancy Creek Watershed.”
