Waterway pollution control apparatus
OwnerJack Mattsoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable pollution control apparatus designed to span a creek or other small waterway. The apparatus includes an adjustable length boom which extends across the creek; an elongated, hydrocarbon-absorbent sock which is suspended from the boom and extends within the creek downstream from the boom; and a sheet of water-porous fabric connectable to the boom and extending upstream therefrom to function as a sediment trap. The fabric sheet in preferably deployed on the creekbed and banks to form a settling pond immediately upstream from said boom to permit settling of sediment.
Claims12
A portable waterway pollution control apparatus deployable in a waterway having a bottom surface comprising:
- (a) an adjustable length boom extending across said waterway;
- (b) an elongated, hydrocarbon absorbent sock suspended from said boom for extending in said waterway downstream from said boom;
- and
- (c) a sheet of water-porous material connected to said boom, said sheet having a pore size sufficient to substantially trap water-borne sediment,
- wherein said sheet has a length substantially greater than the depth of said waterway at the location of said boom, whereby said sheet covers a substantial portion of said bottom surface of said waterway upstream from said boom to permit said sediment to settle thereon.
A portable waterway pollution control kit deployable in a waterway having a bottom surface comprising:
- (a) an adjustable length boom extendable across said waterway at a deployed location;
- (b) an elongated, hydrocarbon absorbent sock suspendable from said boom for extending in said waterway downstream from said boom;
- and
- (c) a sheet of water-porous material connectable to said boom and having a pore size sufficient to substantially trap water-borne sediment, wherein said sheet has a length substantially greater than the depth of said waterway at said deployed location whereby said sheet is extendable upstream from said boom to cover a substantial portion of said bottom surface of said waterway to permit said sediment to settle thereon.
A method of controlling the dispersion of pollutants into a waterway in the vicinity of a work site comprising the steps of:
- (a) extending a boom across said waterway at a location downstream from said work site;
- (b) removably anchoring end portions of said boom on opposite sides of said waterway;
- (c) suspending an elongated hydrocarbon-absorbent sock from said boom such that said sock extends across said waterway at a location downstream from said boom;
- (d) providing a sheet of water-porous material having a pore size sufficiently small to trap water-borne sediment;
- (e) connecting an end portion of said sheet to said boom;
- (f) removably anchoring said sheet on the bottom and banks of said waterway such that said sheet extends upstream from said boom covering the bed of said waterway;
- (g) allowing said water-borne sediment to settle on an upper surface of said sheet;
- and
- (h) removing said sheet from said waterway together with any of said sediment which has settled on said sheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.