April 2019 – No, we are not describing a mythical aquatic animal. A Water Goat is a system placed around stormwater outfalls to collect litter before it enters our waterways. One was installed in McKay Bay in 2017 to capture trash from Ybor City. There’s currently another Water Goat is in the Temple Crest area of Tampa. And, there are plans to add another Water Goat in Temple Terrace.
>Composed of a floating surface net around a stormwater outfall, floating litter is trapped by the net and stopped from traveling down a waterway. Typically, once or twice per month, volunteers bag the litter for proper disposal. Within its first few months, the McKay Bay Water Goat collected more than 1,800 pounds of trash. Water Goats are a great way of preventing litter from entering our waterways and eventually our oceans. The next time you come across a Water Goat, you will recognize this cool technology and the dedicated volunteers keeping our waterways and oceans clean.
