Year

2025

Customer

Paris City Hall—City of Paris Canal Department

Goals

• Make cleaning the canals easier by limiting dispersal of floating waste.
• Stop hydrocarbon pollution from spreading down the canal
• Ensure proper water oxygenation, reducing the risk of asphyxiation among the species living there
• Maintain biodiversity and reduce the spread of invasive plant species
• Tackle plastic waste in the canal and, ultimately, in the ocean

Chosen solution

Four bubble curtains were installed at the Crimée bridge, which will stop waste flowing downstream and redirect it to a dedicated collection area.

Project stakeholders

Poralu Marine – Canadian Pond – Ville de Paris

Description

To tackle the upsurge in floating waste of all kinds (mainly aquatic weeds but also packaging, bottles, and drinks cans) in the Canal de l’Ourcq and the Bassin de la Villette in particular, the City of Paris’s canal department deployed an innovative technological solution: Invisibubble.

Hoses on the canal bed release compressed air, forming a bubble curtain that redirects waste to a dedicated collection area. Waste is then collected by a cleaning boat, which visits five or six times a week depending on the season.