Nautilus

Passive Trash Collection Pioneered by Greenway

Nautilus is an exciting project for Colorado’s waterways. By passively collecting trash, it’s making a substantial difference in water quality and riparian environment. During its 10-month pilot, the Nautilus passively collected trash along the north side of the Cherry Creek between Blake Street and Market Street. 

At this single location, Nautilus collected these trash items:

• Plastic Bags: 195
• Plastic Bottles: 36
• Food Wrappers/Bags: 28
• Styrofoam Pieces: 25
• Misc. Plastic: 12
• Cups: 9
• Disposable Gloves: 8

What is listed above (and more!) was collected in 32 site visits. Nautilus was serviced regularly by Mile High Flood District and ArborForce— thank you for being such integral partners during this pilot process and for collecting valuable information regarding the device’s function and what types of debris were caught. Other partners for this pilot include ClayDean Electric, who built this version of Nautilus, as well as Denver Parks and Recreation and Naranjo Civil Constructors.  

The concept for the Nautilus design was created by two students at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Mara Maxwell and TJ DiTallo, as part of the Clean Water Challenge held during the 2015-2016 academic year. The Clean Water Challenge is a year-long competition that engages teams of undergraduate students to research a local water pollution issue and come up with a potential solution.

An engineering team at Stantec is working on the next iteration of Nautilus right now. This next version will be a full-scale installation on the north side of Cherry Creek by the stormwater outfall between Blake Street and Market Street. Stay tuned for updates! 

Thank You to Our Nautilus Sponsors