More than two tonnes of rubbish pulled out of Maribyrnong River

A 10-day blitz on the Maribyrnong and Yarra rivers has eliminated almost five tonnes of plastic and other rubbish from the waterways.

Phil Ryan (left), Jesse Barrett, Anton Tejeda and Aaron Horsey from Melbourne Water, Cleanwater Group and the Yarra Riverkeeper Association have undertaken a massive community clean-up of the Maribyrnong and Yarra Rivers. Picture: Ellen Smith.

Maribyrnong River is under threat from millions of tiny invaders which could decimate the water system, warns an environmental group.

Yarra riverkeeper Andrew Kelly said tiny plastic pellets called nurdles, that are almost impossible for human hands to pick up, were causing health risks to the river’s marine life.

“Heavy metals from cars, like tyre smears, wash into waterways and sticks to nurdles that are eaten by animals, which are eaten by bigger animals and the concentration of contaminants moves up the food chain,” Mr Kelly said.

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Nurdles are used to manufacture plastic products such as bags. They are light, cheap and easy to transport.

One of the only ways to clean them up is with a high-volume, low-pressure vacuum created by Queensland company Cleanwater Group.

The vacuum was drawn along reed beds and the banks of the Maribyrnong River, Yarra River and Stony Creek last week, sucking up the nurdles, as part of a river blitz.

Cleanwater received $10,000 from Melbourne Water to create the vacuum and Mr Kelly wants more funding so more can be made.

Mr Kelly’s call comes after a 10-day cleaning blitz of the Maribyrnong River that finished last week.

The Yarra River Association, Melbourne Water and residents sweltered during the first day of the clean up on March 3 to improve the river’s health.

Kayaks, canoes and rowboats were used to travel along the river and pull out rubbish from the reed beds and banks.

By Sunday, almost five tonnes of plastic and other rubbish had been pulled out of the Maribyrnong and Yarra river combined with a break down of the figures expected later this week.

Maribyrnong resident Rosa Christina said cleaning up the river was “a very rewarding experience”.

“I cannot believe the amount of rubbish that we found. (Two of us) collected 12kg of rubbish, including a chair,” she said.

“ Lucky our kayak was big enough.”

A similar clean-up of the Yarra last year resulted in five tonnes of litter and polystyrene contamination vacuumed up, including 74 O-bikes.

Melbourne Water acting manager Sarah Eggleton said the blitz was a great example of how communities could contribute to the vision and goals of the Healthy Waterways Strategy, which aims to protect and enhance waterways across greater Melbourne.

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