Cleaning our rivers is a continuous process and any support we can get in achieving our goals of pollution and free and having clear crystal water is always welcome. In efforts to make this possible, Universiti Malaysia Sabah has come up with a new and innovative way with its invention of a ‘river cleaning machine’ that can collect rubbish, as well as sewage that causes pollution of the rivers.
UMS Innovation Management and Commercialisation Centre director Associate Professor Dr Jidon Adrian Janaun, who is a researcher at the centre and the inventor of the machine, said the production of the prototype, costs RM100,000 and was completed last February. It is capable of collecting up to 90 percent of the garbage floating in the river, adding that the machine, which is shaped like a rotating swing, had so far, been used by UMS only for research work.
Jidon Adrian said the machine for river use could be operated using solar energy and would rotate according to the speed of the flow of the river water to trap the floating garbage, such as plastic and bottles.
However, he said, the process of installing the machine at the river would be by the company that obtained the right to commercialise the machine. UMS would only provide guidance in terms of design, advisory services on suitable components for the company, selection of durable materials as well as the use of low production costs, he added.
“The benefit of this machine is that it facilitates river cleaning work,” he said, adding that the project received the support of the Sabah Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (KSTI) which contributed RM30,000.
One of the students involved in making the machine, Alexander Emmanuel Segong, 23, from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, said the machine is also installed with a device that is capable of “pulling” the floating rubbish in the river to it.
“The device will be afloat with a turbine under it that will rotate when in the water to attract the garbage to the cleaning machine,” he added.
