Protecting One of Ontario's Most Important Lakes

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The City of Barrie sits on the shores of Lake Simcoe, one of Ontario's largest freshwater lakes and a vital source of drinking water, recreation, and aquatic habitat. Like many urban centres, much of Barrie's stormwater network discharges directly into the lake, meaning litter and debris entering catch basins can quickly become a water quality issue.

To better understand the sources and volume of stormwater litter entering the network, the City partnered with EnviroPod™ to undertake a year-long LittaTrap™ pilot in the downtown core.

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The Challenge:

The City wanted to:

• Measure the quantity and type of litter entering the stormwater system
• Identify seasonal trends in litter generation
• Better understand pollution hotspots before expanding litter capture programs
• Prevent plastics and other gross pollutants from reaching Lake Simcoe

A single LittaTrap™ was installed in a catch basin on Dunlop Street, one of Barrie's busiest pedestrian areas.

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The Solution:

The pilot was designed to run over a full year, allowing the City to monitor:

• Seasonal litter variations
• Summer tourism impacts
• Winter snowmelt conditions
• Pollutant types and loading rates

The location was selected because of its high pedestrian activity, making it an ideal site to assess urban litter entering the stormwater network.

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Results:

Between June and December 2019, the LittaTrap™ captured:

• 473 pieces of litter and gross pollutants
• Nearly 60% were cigarette butts
• Plastic food wrappers
• Polystyrene
• Chewing gum
• Confetti
• A discarded hypodermic needle

Without the LittaTrap™, these pollutants would have entered the City's stormwater network and ultimately Lake Simcoe.

The trial also demonstrated that even a single catch basin in a busy urban area can intercept significant quantities of litter before it reaches the receiving environment.

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The monitoring showed:

• Summer months (June–September) generated significantly higher litter volumes.
• Autumn and early winter (October–December) experienced noticeably lower loading.
• The extended monitoring programme was expected to continue through the snowmelt period, helping the City better understand how winter conditions influence stormwater pollution.

These findings provide valuable data for municipalities when planning maintenance schedules and targeting litter reduction programmes during peak periods.

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Why LittaTrap™

The LittaTrap™ offered several advantages for the City of Barrie:

• Retrofit installation into existing catch basins
• No civil construction required
• Hand-maintainable without confined space entry
• Captures litter and gross pollutants before they enter waterways
• Provides measurable data to support stormwater planning and environmental reporting

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Supporting Better Stormwater Management

The Barrie pilot demonstrated how a single LittaTrap™ can provide both immediate environmental benefits and valuable monitoring data.

By identifying pollutant hotspots and seasonal trends, municipalities can make informed decisions about where to prioritise stormwater treatment, optimise maintenance programmes, and reduce litter entering sensitive waterways like Lake Simcoe.

The project highlights how simple at-source capture solutions can become an important part of broader stormwater quality and watershed protection strategies.