The wheel has become an integral part of the Healthy Harbor Waterfront Partnership Initiative. It receives power from the Jones Falls river’s current near the harbor, which turns the wheel and lifts trash from the water into a dumpster barge. Solar panels keep it running when the water current isn’t enough.
The wheel is now docked in the harbor. Each time it runs, it removes an impressive amount of debris. So far, it has never collected less than eight cubic yards of trash.
Healthy Harbor hopes to make the body of water swimmable in less than six years, and the Water Wheel could be a big part of that.
“The water wheel has been a time-saver for us,” said Bill Flohr, who runs Baltimore Harbor’s East Marina. “It seems to be collecting probably 95 percent of what we normally had to pick up by hand.”