Summary Report: Audits of Ballast Water Treatment Systems
Abstract
The development of ballast water treatment (BWT) technologies is at a very early stage. Many of the proposed BWT technologies have had limited laboratory testing and only a few have been tested aboard ships. Many others are still in the conceptual stage. In order to gain a better understanding of BWT technology development the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (USCG RDC) initiated an audit program designed to evaluate the efficacy of promising treatment systems. The program objective was to promote insight into the current status of the scientific and engineering technologies proposed to replace ballast water exchange in reducing introductions of aquatic nuisance species. Vendors of four different BWT systems who were interested in participating in the program invited the USCG to audit their treatment systems and test programs. The audits included observations of the treatment systems test operations along with a critical review of the data resulting from the performance evaluation tests conducted by the vendors. Elements assessed as part of the audits included the impacts of the treatment system on marine macro- and micro-biological organism. This report summarizes the audit program and findings of the four audits. The audit review team found that weaknesses in the experimental designs and analyses made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the treatment performance of the BWT systems. The operational efficiency of these treatment systems had not been tested adequately. The overarching research problem that needs to be addressed by BWT technology testing is how effectively the treatment system inactivates or removes all species present in ballast water. Researchers were either not asking the right questions or not answering the questions asked. Testing should have included species-specific accounting of organism viability/propagation and physical removal of organisms.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA426116
Entities
People
- G. E. Roderick
Organizations
- United States Coast Guard Research & Development Center