Boats, cranes, trucks and plenty of people power have combined to remove a 37,000 litre water tank from a local river system this week.
The mammoth effort was completed by Ocean Crusaders as part of their quarterly clean up within the region.
Founder and managing director of Ocean Crusaders Ian Thomson said the water tank was located in the Kolan River at Miara using Google Earth and had likely been there since the 2013 floods.
“We found out about the tank last time that we were here but couldn't locate it, so this time we found it on Google Earth and managed to pluck it out,” he said.
“We were able to cut it in half and get it to where it should be.
“It had a lot of holes in it so no one can reuse it but at least the plastic can now be recycled.”
Ian said although heavy and large, when water tanks were empty and caught in floodwaters, they became flotation devices.
“If the water rises enough they just float and that's what we have seen in the Kolan River,” he said.
“We are fortunate enough to have a bit of machinery with us so we were able to put the tank on to a portable winch on the boat and bring it in.
“It took about half an hour to tow it back to the ramp even though it was only a 1km trip.”
Ian said the water tank find was just a small percentage of the rubbish that was being dragged in from local rivers as part of the six-day trip.
“We have been hitting it pretty hard,” he said.
“We keep working through the rain and have managed to pull out five-and-a-half tonnes of rubbish in just four days.”
Ian said with the wet weather set to stick around, now was as good a time as any for residents to prepare their properties to ensure they don't become part of the litter problem within local waterways.
“We need to better prepare ourselves,” he said.
“Also, street rubbish is a big problem.
“Any time there is rain, all of the rubbish from our streets is washed right into the rivers.”
Under a Bundaberg Regional Council contract, organisation Ocean Crusaders travels the region's waterways every few months as part of its rubbish-removal process.
