Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski are Australian surfers who didn’t appreciate the pollution they saw in the ocean. After several trips yachting around the world and constant disappointment with the conditions of the marinas, Andrew started to develop the idea of an ocean cleaning device. He pulled in Pete based on his experience as a product designer making injection molded plastic components. Their solution is Seabin, a bucket that cleans and filters water in marinas.
Marinas and yacht clubs were targeted to place the Seabin because they act as controlled environments. Ocean swells and storms are typically outside of the marinas but wind and currents constantly move debris into the zones. Currently large boats with nets work to pick up the garbage in harbors – my favorite is Baltimore’s Mr. Trash Wheel – but the boats are expensive to keep up and not completely effective. Seabin wants to be a low cost, low maintenance, effective solution that easily fits in the most polluted areas of harbors.
Seabin uses a five gallon bucket (the Australian equivalent is the twenty Liter pail) with a burlap sack inside as the debris catcher. The device is fixed to a dock or wall and a water pump constantly pulls the water into the bucket, catching whatever pollutants might be present in the water. An option also exists for the pump to have a filtering system for the water to remove oil and other chemicals. The system runs on 110 or 220 volts and expects to use a 1.5 horsepower pump.
Turton and Ceglinski are currently running an Indiegogo campaign to fund a production run of Seabin systems. This is mostly a support campaign where funders can send money to help the project along, but for approximately $3800 businesses can purchase their own Seabin complete with a spot to place a corporate logo.
Seabin is a great example of inventors working to solve a local problem that might also have global implications. The device itself looks deceptively simple when in use and draws attention but the system is complex and requires work to design, manufacture and install. The campaign is currently at 49% funded with eight days to go but is getting a lot of mainstream attention this week. Hopefully the team can get the money they need and fulfill their goal of cleaning the world’s waterways.