These traps are located on storm drainage waterways and are responsible for collecting numerous plastic and other debris yearly.
Last year, a record-breaking 1500 cubic meters of waste were collected across Sydney's storm water networks by 75 traps situated throughout the city.
To put this in perspective, this is comparable to nearly 9500 bathtubs of debris.
Sydney Water owns and manages about 450km of storm water channels spanning from Bondi in the east to Wentworthville in the west and Rouse Hill in the north.
Gross Pollutant Traps are specially designed structures that are strategically located to prevent debris from entering sensitive ecosystems.
Plastic, rubber balls, styrofoam, shopping trolleys, chairs, footwear, rubber tyres, and even car bumper bars are among the common types of waste caught.
The GPTs are positioned to protect areas with high wastage loads and sensitive ecosystems, including some of the city's most extensive coastal freshwater wetlands and critical endangered flora and fauna situated within them.
Sydney Water's GPT contractor recycles plastics where possible and processes organic matter for reuse as a gardening product after removing debris from the GPTs.
In the next few months, Sydney Water intends to introduce five more GPTs in various locations across the city. Three of these GPTs will be installed at the Parkside Drive Wetland site in Kogarah Bay, while the remaining two will be installed at the Milson Park Wetland site in Westmead.
According to Lorne Gurney, a Sydney Water Network Programs Scientist, Gross Pollutant Traps are incredibly beneficial in maintaining the cleanliness of our waterways.
"The real benefit of this program is the environmental benefit. We see this as a tangible way to help ensure our wildlife in our wetlands continues to flourish. We all love healthy waterways," he said.
