Pete’s Harbor Installing Giant Trash Filter In Waterway

Pete’s Harbor Properties is installing a turbidity curtain around the Outer Harbor and across the entrance to the Inner Harbor in Redwood City, California, according to a notice issued to people living in the boat slips

A turbidity curtain is a sheet of semi permeable material that prevents debris from washing from one section of water to the other. It is generally identifiable from the water surface as a floating series of tubes.  Its underwater appearance depends on the thickness of the curtain, which varies depending on purpose.

Pete’s Habor management said the purpose of this curtain is to “prevent any debris that may separate from deteriorating docks or from any other source from entering the public waterways or habitat areas,” according to that notice.

"The placement of the barriers would minimize any debris entering Redwood Creek and into Smith Slough and the Bair Island Tidal Restoration area nearby," reads a memo from Michael Josselyn, Ph.D, WRA Environmental Consultant, to Pete's Harbor Properties.

The curtain's cost is estimated to be in the range of $60,000-90,000 according to Josselyn's memo.  One benefit of the curtain to Pete's Harbor Properties is that it minimizes the potential for trash to float from the docks into "sensitive resource habitats," according to the memo.

Residents who want to move in and out of the waterways should contact the Harbor Office to make arrangements.