Belfast Harbour · Live deployment
Operating in a
live working harbour.
The UK's first marina Aquapod deployment at Belfast Harbour Marina
Belfast Harbour Marina is where a busy working port meets a highly visible public waterfront. Floating litter, plastics, natural debris and surface pollution arrive with the river, tide and weather.
Belfast Harbour became the first marina in the UK to install Aquapod. Positioned at the waterline, the system is designed to intercept floating material where it gathers, while Clean Impact View provides a record of the environmental activity taking place.
The setting
The River Lagan keeps delivering
what the marina did not put there.
The River Lagan carries urban debris, plastics and surface pollution downstream toward the waterfront with tide, weather and river flow. It gathers in the sheltered water of the marina.
The marina cannot control everything arriving with the water. It still has to decide what happens when that pollution becomes visible.
The response
Practical action
at the waterline.
The problem
Visible floating pollution accumulating in working harbour water.
The intervention
Aquapod positioned at an identified accumulation point and designed to intercept floating material at the waterline.
The evidence
Recovered material and environmental activity recorded through Clean Impact View.
At the waterline
What gathers in
a working harbour.
- Floating litter
- Macroplastics
- Microplastics of 1 mm or greater
- Organic debris
- Leaves and seaweed
- Minor oil and diesel surface films using replaceable absorbents
These are Aquapod interception capabilities. They are not quantified Belfast Harbour collection results.
In practice
Technology still needs
operational ownership.
Aquapod is designed to reduce repeated manual clean-up by intercepting floating pollution where it accumulates. The collected material still has to be inspected, lifted, handled and sent through an agreed waste route.
Every installation therefore needs a named responsible person or team, a safe access and lifting method, an agreed inspection and emptying routine, an authorised destination for recovered material and a defined maintenance route.
Explore how Aquapod works→The evidence
Make the environmental
activity visible.
Paired with Clean Impact View, the deployment gives the harbour team a record of the environmental activity taking place, relevant to Belfast Harbour's Clean Tech ambitions, Green Harbour direction, Blueway development and long-term 2050 Master Plan.
Clean Impact View can support environmental and pollution reporting. It does not by itself establish organisational compliance or prove wider ecological improvement.
Why it matters
People trust
clean spaces.
The marina is one of the places where the public, visiting boats and the working harbour meet. The condition of the water is visible.
Belfast Harbour's published account places the installation within its wider work on Blue Flag Marina accreditation, environmental stewardship and operational decision-making.
“We hope Belfast Harbour can act as a benchmark for how practical innovation can support improving water quality and creating better environments.”
What this makes possible
Start with what is happening
in your water.
Every harbour and marina is different. The type of pollution, where it gathers, access to the water, lifting arrangements and the route for recovered material all shape the appropriate response.
If floating pollution keeps returning to the same part of your harbour or marina, show us what is happening. We can help you assess whether Aquapod, Clean Impact View or a wider NETZERO Alchemists response is appropriate.
Talk to us about your harbour→