Takoma Park’s newly-acquired electric street sweeper — with its new name — made its debut in the city’s Fourth of July parade.
Takoma Spark, submitted by resident and Takoma Park Community Band member Daniel Cerveny, was selected as the winner of the city’s naming contest. Over 110 names were submitted during the “SweeperStakes“, which was announced in May.
A big thank you to our residents who submitted over 110 names for the EV SweeperStakes! Thanks to our judges, who had a challenging task in picking the winning name, "Takoma Spark"!
Thank you, and Congrats to Daniel Cerveny for picking the winning name! https://t.co/ejBARSarqQ
— TakomaParkMD (@TakomaParkMD) July 4, 2023
The city recently acquired the Netherlands-built RAVO 5 iSeries electric sweeper through Silver Spring dealer Atlantic Machinery:
The electric sweeper replaces the diesel-powered sweeper and will reduce the City’s use of fuel by 700 gallons per year, cutting the City’s greenhouse gas emissions by 3%. The City’s electricity source is 100% renewable through a combination of onsite solar and the purchase of renewable energy credits.
In addition to the fuel and greenhouse gas emission reductions, the EV sweeper is a much quieter engine, so the noise generated by the sweeping of streets will be reduced as well.
The City operates the sweeper from March through October, with the goal of sweeping each street at least twice a month. Additionally, the City uses the sweeper to clean up salt and sand used after snow and ice events to reduce the pollution of the area streams. Street sweeping is a component of the City’s stormwater management program and assists the City in meeting stormwater quality goals.
More information on the Takoma Spark street sweeper can be found on the manufacturer’s website.
Photo: Takoma Park City TV / YouTube