Young volunteers clean up trash before installing trash barriers at To Ngoc Van street's canal on May 19.
Six trash barriers have been installed in canals in District 12, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc.
"Many kinds of garbage follow the canal's flow to here. It usually takes two hours to completely clean up, and a full day for larger canals," said Kieu Tu, a group member (pictured).
Buoys are connected together in a floating barrier chain before being dropped into the canal. Such a trash barrier costs VND3.5-30 million ($137-1,177) depending on the number of buoys.
"The completely assembled barrier is difficult to transport, so we do it on-site," Nguyen Van Hen said.
A buoy includes two round plastic rods attached to a metal plate. The number of buoys depends on the canal's width.
A 4-meter long, 5-piece buoy is dropped down the canal after an hour of assembly.
According to Hen, this is the most strenuous task because the buoy is bulky, making it more difficult to operate on water.
"Life jackets are indispensable safety items for volunteers who install barriers at large and deep canals," Hen added.
The buoy is fixed at both ends with steel wire and tightened with screws. For canal sections where there is no place to tie the rope, the group installs iron stakes to secure it.
At the same time, a group clean up trash at the canal on Linh Dong Street, where a barrier has been installed since the beginning of this year.
According to group leaders, the barrier here works well. The group comes to clean up trash blocked by the barrier once a month.
Trash is collected and classified in large bags, waiting for trucks to transport it to collection points for processing.
