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Fact Sheet
Performance Verification of Ship Ballast Water
Treatment Technologies and Exchange Screening Technologies
January, 2007
The EPA's Environmental Technology Verification Program (ETV) and the U.S. Coast Guard's
National Ballast Water Management Program are participating in a joint effort to develop a
performance verification protocol for new ballast water treatment technology for installation on
board ships. ETV is also cooperating with Coast Guard in developing a protocol and will test
technologies that screen whether ballast water exchange has taken place. Ballast water exchange
is the current approach used by ships to reduce the introduction of marine organisms and is
viewed by experts as an interim solution. Also, ships cannot perform ballast water exchange
during rough sea conditions.
Background: The overwhelming majority of the world's trade goods are transported by modern
shipping. An unintended consequence of this vital mode of commerce is the uptake and
transport of marine organisms in ships' ballast water, and the deposition of these organisms
during ballast water discharge into non-native, and ecologically sensitive coastal areas. Although
many organisms don't survive the journey or the introduction into new environments, some
species flourish in their new environments without natural predators. The more environmentally
tolerant species become invasive and can alter the ecological balance. Invasive species can
cause habitat damage, and may cause public health concerns and significant damage to water
treatment infrastructure as evidenced by the Zebra and Quagga mussel infestations of the Great
Lakes.
Recent advances in establishing both national and international ballast water exchange and
discharge standards for ship ballast water to reduce the global proliferation of aquatic invasive
species has encouraged private industry to develop treatment technologies and exchange
screening technologies to address the proposed standards. Recognizing the need for these
technologies to be independently evaluated and verified, and to accelerate commercialization and
marketplace acceptance, the EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard are jointly developing a protocol for
the performance verification of shipboard ballast water treatment technologies. EPA and Coast
Guard are also jointly developing a protocol for testing ballast water exchange screening
technologies and will soon test these technologies.
Project Descriptions
Ballast water treatment technology: The treatment technology protocol is designed for use at
a land-based testing facility, and will accommodate full-scale marine systems for either in-tank,
flow-though, or combination treatment approaches. Water quality conditions for the tests will be
adjusted to represent extreme, but not rare, natural conditions. In addition to ambient organism
populations, surrogate organisms will be selected to represent bacteria, zooplankton, protists, and
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phytoplankton species. The protocol is being pilot-tested at the Naval Research Laboratory's
(NRL) Ballast Water Treatment Technology Testing Facility at Key West, Florida, which was
developed under a Coast Guard Agreement with NRL using the draft protocol's testing
specifications. The goal of this project is to develop and demonstrate a comprehensive, yet cost-
effective technology verification protocol that can be used to evaluate new and innovative ballast
water treatment technology in a fair and reproducible manner, independent of geographic
location. When completed in 2007, the verification protocol will enable the evaluation of new
technology, independent of the manufacturer, at any compatible testing facility worldwide.
Purchasers of new ballast water treatment technology will be able to select appropriate systems
based on credible data. Use of these systems on board commercial ocean vessels will ultimately
contribute to reducing the proliferation of aquatic invasive species worldwide. The International
Maritime Organization (IMO) is also developing a protocol for testing ballast water treatment
technology; the ETV protocol is serving as the basis for the IMO protocol.
Ballast water exchange screening technology: The protocol for technologies that screen for
ballast water exchange is currently under development. US Coast Guard's Research and
Development Center at Groton, Connecticut is being supported by USEPA's ETV program in the
protocol development and testing effort. Testing and reporting will be complete by the end of
2007. One parameter which distinguishes open ocean water from coastal water is colored
dissolved organic matter (CDOM). CDOM refers to the fraction of dissolved organic matter that
absorbs light and fluoresces in the ultra-violet and visible regions of the spectrum. Portable
CDOM technologies will be evaluated against a standard CDOM measurement approach which
uses scale excitation-emission spectrometry under controlled laboratory conditions. Field
technologies will be tested for accuracy, linearity, precision, method detection limit, inter-unit
reproducibility, temperature effects, matrix effects, data completeness, and operational factors
such as ease of use and maintenance. Desirable attributes of the technologies are that they be
robust, rapid, accurate and portable.
Technical Contacts: Treatment technologies - Ray Frederick at 732-321-6627 or
Frederick.ray@epa.gov and Tom Stevens at 734-769-5347 or stevenst@nsf.org ; Exchange
screening technologies - Robert Fuerst at 919-541-2220 or fuerst.robert@epa.gov or Amy
Dindal at 561-422-0113 or dindala@battelle.org.
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