The Problem of Removing Seaweed from the Beaches: Review of Methods and Machines

Abstract

Beach cleaning and algae collection in the shoreline area are important for the tourism industry, mainly for aesthetic reasons, but also to protect human health. In addition, the collected material can be used in many industries such as energy, medicine, cosmetics or catering. The problem of cleaning the shoreline area concerns the need to clear land, water and the strip of shore and land onto which water is thrown from falling waves. The vast majority of available cleaning methods are adapted to cleaning beaches or waters. There is a lack of solutions and machine designs suitable for cleaning the coastal strip, which includes: land, the area of land on which the wave is thrown, shoal and deep water. This area is particularly important for tourism as it is mainly used for water bathing. Pictures from tourist areas that are exposed to intensive water contamination show that measures taken to clear the shoreline area are not very effective, as seaweed in shallow water is thrown ashore with the waves. The paper presents a review of methods for cleaning coastal waters and beaches from contamination. It also shows the author’s conceptual design adapted to clear the shoreline area and sandy beaches.