THE future of a possible solution to Watchet Harbour’s serious mud problems was in the balance this week after trials of a prototype dredging system were branded “very disappointing and unfair”.
Watchet’s 80-member Silt and Mud Group had been waiting nearly six months for permission to demonstrate a method using compressed air to turn the mud into liquid.
But when the system was demonstrated to a mud expert, marina staff and council officials on Tuesday, a day of tests produced little more than numerous shallow holes in the surface of the mud in the outer harbour.
The mud group claimed this was in stark contrast to a “resoundingly successful” test only three days earlier when the “raw power” of the rig rapidly removed silt from the harbour floor.
“The official Tuesday trial was a great disappointment because we were instructed to use the equipment in a fixed position when it works efficiently when allowed to move about,” said the group’s chairman Bryan Mitchell.
“It wasn’t disappointing in terms of the equipment and our faith in it, but on the day it simply wasn’t a fair trial and very little could be learned from it.
“People went away with a completely wrong impression and now after all the struggle to get our system accepted, we are back to square one.
“We will now have a meeting of the group to decide what to do next. This is obviously a setback but we still think our technology can be valuable contribution to the mud problem and hope we will get another chance to prove it.”
Created by retired underwater engineer Kevin Wheeler, the mud group’s proposed solution involves using “air-lift technology” which sends compressed air down tubes to liquify the mud and allow it to leave the harbour on the ebb tide.
The system is claimed to be cheaper and more efficient than other forms of dredging and has been used widely in other harbours and in the off-shore industry.
The group’s experts believe that while a massive “capital dredge” costing about £500,000 is the ultimate answer to getting rid of all the current 35,000 tons of harbour mud, Mr Wheeler’s system could be the most cost-effective way of maintaining a mud-free marina.
Full report in the Free Press (August 17)