Posted on September 22, 2025
An estimated 70 to 80% of all ocean plastic reaches the sea through rivers, adding up to as much as 23 million tonnes per year worldwide. As a World Builder, we work on and around water every day, and we are also committed to finding ways to protect rivers and oceans from pollution. That is why we are now testing an underwater pump, the Aquapod®, on the Dender in collaboration with the city of Aalst and De Vlaamse Waterweg.
The Aquapod®, developed by Clean Sea Solutions, is an underwater pump that continuously draws in water and waste, collecting the debris in a storage container. We are testing the Aquapod® for the very first time on the Dender, near the railway bridge on Dokter André Sierensstraat, right next to our Aalst office. The city of Aalst is responsible for collecting and processing the gathered waste.
Smart teamwork with vessels
The Aquapod® can operate fully autonomously, but for even greater impact we combine it with our Vaquitas, remotely operated vessels that we usually deploy to map the seabed during our projects. Equipped with robotic arms, the Vaquitas can pick up floating waste on the water’s surface and bring it to the Aquapod®.
Global potential
If this pilot project proves successful, we plan to deploy the Aquapod® together with our Vaquitas on projects worldwide to remove waste. In this way, we not only build infrastructure, but also contribute to cleaner waterways.
