Protecting Georgia’s waterways, beaches from coastal pollution

Georgia is welcoming this year’s beach season and is sparing no effort to ensure tourists and local holidaymakers enjoy a pollution-free seaside this summer.

To ensure Georgia’s coastal areas are free from rubbish and other waste, special equipment has been installed in Natanebi River to keep its water clean before it joins the Black Sea.

Black Sea beach in Shekvetili. Photo by Georgia's Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure. 

Officials from Georgia’s Infrastructure Ministry today visited Shekvetili village on the Black Sea coast in western Georgia’s Guria region to oversee the equipment, which the state paid about 125,000 GEL for.

The Ministry said this was a pilot project that was implemented following a recommendation by Georgia’s environment experts as a way to improve the ecological coastal environment of the Black Sea.

The equipment can move up or down the river, in accordance with the water level, and catch all the waste that floats on the surface. It is capable of catching rubbish as well as petroleum products.

Photo by Georgia's Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure. 

Equipment will be installed on both sides of the river that will direct the gathered waste into a larger collection area, where it can easily be removed and discarded.

The equipment will be fully installed by the end of July.