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Sarasota County uses floating 'WaterGoat' devices to trap canal debris before it reaches bays
Summary
County stormwater staff described the WaterGoat, a flotation device placed across canals to capture floating debris that would otherwise drain into local bays; staff collect trash quarterly to sort, weigh and recycle where possible. Locations include Roberts Bay, Little Sarasota Bay (near Sarasota High) and Alligator Creek.
Sarasota County staff described a floating debris-collection system known as a WaterGoat during a short water quality update, saying the devices are placed across canals to capture trash before it reaches local bays.
"It's a flotation device that we will connect from either end of a canal, and it will just collect any debris that might be floating on the surface of the water," said Jen Rudolph, a member of the county stormwater team, pointing to a unit behind her.
Rudolph said the county selects sites for WaterGoats based on observed debris loads and whether the channel drains directly into a bay. "They're all drain directly into a bay," she said, adding the devices stop debris that might otherwise end up in the bay.
County crews remove the collected material every three months. "Every 3 months, we'll come out here and we'll collect all of the trash. We'll actually take it back to our building and we'll sort it, we'll weigh it, and we'll recycle anything that we can and throw away the rest," Rudolph said.
Rudolph identified several deployments around the county, including one that drains into Roberts Bay, another near Sarasota High that drains into Little Sarasota Bay, and a unit at Alligator Creek, plus several additional, unspecified locations.
Sam Parker, who introduced the update, directed listeners to the county's water-quality webpage for more information: scgov.net/waterquality.
