Fort Worth shelves trash wheel project over rising costs and lackluster fundraising
Fort Worth has decided to scrap its proposed trash collecting water wheel project after three years of fundraising failed to meet the needed costs.
The city needed to raise around $1.9 million to build and install one water wheel, however, as of Aug. 31 there was still a $500,000 funding gap, according to a city report.
The city, Tarrant Regional Water District, and the environmental nonprofit Streams and Valleys started fundraising in December 2021. The original plan was to have two water wheels in separate sections of the Trinity River that would collect trash while simultaneously promoting litter abatement awareness.
The hope was to have a similar impact of the Trash Wheel Family in Baltimore, Maryland. The wheels use buoys to funnel trash into a conveyor belt that is deposited into a dumpster.
Baltimore’s wheel’s also have googly-eyes and their own social media personalities as part of a campaign to promote litter pickup.
Fort Worth and the water district committed a combined $700,000 to the project with the rest of the funds coming from fundraising. So far, the city has raised $660,000, according to the report.
The city estimated in 2021 that each wheel would cost $600,000 to build, and $50,000 a year to maintain. However, a pair of proposals from January 2024 estimated construction of the mooring needed to secure the water wheels in the Trinity River would cost roughly $1.2 million.
That in addition to the cost of constructing the water wheel put the project cost out of reach.
The city plans to give donors the option of either a refund or to have their fund go to support other litter abatement initiatives through the Keep Fort Worth Beautiful program, according to the report.
The city could revisit the water wheel project if other funding sources or large donations become available, the report said.
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