Manatee County – Sarasota County – Hillsboro County – Charlotte County
As coastal residents, we all need to take responsibility for caring for our beaches and keep them clean. In order to achieve this goal, beach cleanup efforts have been made in many different ways: from elementary school kids picking up trash every weekend, to bigger projects undertaken by local governments and organizations. One of the most recent innovations in beach cleaning technology is a method which uses mechanical force to remove waste from the surf zone.
This process is known as “Mechanical Deep Cleaning of Beaches” (MDBC). In most cases, MDBC services rely on heavy-duty machines that pull debris out of the ocean and collect it onshore so it can be removed. The technology has been used since 2010 and is being offered by private companies that contract with governments or organizations who are looking for an efficient way to remove waste from their beaches.
The process used by MDBC begins with the deployment of a machine at one end of the beach, which is typically called a “Surf Rake”. This equipment consists of stainless steel tines mounted on a rotating conveyor belt that rakes and lifts the litter, seaweed shells out of the sand very effectively. Once enough debris has been swept up by raking system, the debris is deposited in the hopper and any sand picked up drops through back to the ground.