Moscow’s utility fleet cleared out 470 tonnes of waste from the city’s rivers

Moscow’s municipal fleet has collected more than 470 tonnes of litter in the city’s rivers since the beginning of 2022. This was reported by the press service of the Russian capital’s government and mayor.

“Since the opening of navigation specialized vessels are daily engaged in collecting rubbish from the surface of the Moscow River and the navigable part of the Yauza, eliminate pollution, remove silt from the bottom in the outlets. This year they have already collected more than 470 tons of floating rubbish,” clarified Petr Biryukov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Housing and Communal Services and Public Works.

Rubbish collection vessels are involved in the big clean-up of the capital’s rivers and canals. Small watercrafts are sent to shallow areas, and sand and soil bottom sediments are removed by floating cranes and tugboats.

As specified by Pyotr Biryukov, the main work on rubbish collection takes place in the upper reaches of the Moscow River. This helps to ensure that the water area of the channel is cleaner downstream.

The Deputy Mayor added that the utility fleet operates all year round. In winter, two vessels remain on the water, capable of making their way through ice up to 20 centimetres thick.

This year, hydrotechnical work has already been carried out to clean the bottom of 33 berths in the capital. Of these, 17 are at the North River Station. There, the river bottom is polluted with large amounts of household rubbish and scrap metal, which can cause damage to motor ships.

Water area bottom cleaning was carried out at piers Kievsky Vokzal, Bolshoy Ustyinsky Most, Troitse-Lykovo, Krylatskoye, Kuntsevo, Fili, Pechatniki, Yuzhny, Bagration Bridge, Gorky Park (the jetty on the Pushkinskaya embankment), Serebryanyi Bor — 1, Serebryanyi Bor — 2, Nagatinskaya Naberezhnaya wharf No. 2, Heat and Power Plant No. 1 wharf, Serebryanyi Bor wharf No. 356, and also at the piers of the Northern River Station and Kutuzovsky rendezvous wharf No. 3.

“Before the cleanup started, divers thoroughly examined the bottom and a barge equipped with a crane was used to remove large household debris. The more complex dredging activities involved a vessel equipped with a special bucket to lift soil and silt,” explained Pyotr Biryukov.

Dredging and cleaning the bottom of the Moskva River piers is carried out in the city for the second year in a row. In 2021, specialists deepened the bottom of six berths and cleaned 26 points.

The annual cleaning of the Moskva River in recent years has contributed to the recognition of the quality of its water, corresponding to European environmental standards. The quality and purity of water is monitored by specialists from the laboratory of the State Unitary Enterprise Mosvodostok. They take more than 200 samples every month from three places: near the Spassky Bridge, on the Derivative Canal, and also at the exit of the river from the city in the area of Besedinsky Bridges. Water is tested for the presence of more than four thousand pollutants.

Cover photo: press service of the Moscow Mayor and Moscow Government