Report of the Land-Based Freshwater Testing by the Great Ships Initiative of the Siemens SiCURE(TM) Ballast Water Management System for Type Approval According to Regulation D-2 and the Relevant IMO Guidelines

Abstract

The Great Ships Initiative (GSI) provides independent no-cost performance verification testing services to developers of ballast treatment systems and processes at a purpose-built, land-based ballast treatment test facility located in the Duluth-Superior Harbor of Lake Superior. GSI test protocols are consistent with the requirements of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water and Sediments (International Maritime Organization, 2004). GSI procedures, methods materials and findings are publicly accessible on the GSI website (www.greatshipsinitiave.org). In August through October 2009, the GSI conducted land-based tests on the SiCURETM Ballast Water Management System in cooperation with German Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH), i.e., the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency. During the series of five consecutive valid trials, the SiCURETM Ballast Water Management System was evaluated for its ability to: (a) successfully treat ballast water without interruption, (b) meet IMO D-2 discharge standards after a five-day holding time, and (c) discharge water after the five day retention period that is environmentally benign (i.e., no residual toxicity) pursuant to United States Environmental Protection Agency water quality criteria. It should be noted that because freshwater zooplankton are in general smaller than their salt and brackish water counterparts, the larger regulated size category (greater than 50 μm in minimum dimension) did not incorporate all live zooplankton that were present in the source water assemblage. The Siemens SiCURETM Ballast Water Management System functioned properly during the five consecutive trials, and was highly effective at reducing live organism densities in the fresh water ambient conditions of Duluth-Superior Harbor, as amended in these tests to achieve IMOconsistent challenge conditions. Live organisms in the regulated size classes were discharged in densities below the IMO D-2 standard. Microbial analyses showed system performance in keeping with IMO requirements for bacteria. Chemistry data generated across trials indicated the post-retention discharge to have well less than 0.1 mg/L total residual chlorine (TRC) under ambient conditions. Ambient water collected immediately after treatment and held in a cold environment had TRC and total residual oxidant (TRO) levels which slightly exceeded this level. However, in a real world application, the intake water would also be cold, and developers claim that the test system is designed to respond to this circumstance (reflected in oxidation-reduction potential, or ORP) with a reduction in chlorine generated and injected into the intake stream. There were no acute toxic effects of treated discharge on any test species across assays and trials. Chronic toxicity effects in 100 % effluent were detected in one out of two trials for test species of zooplankton and phytoplankton. There were no chronic toxicity effects across organisms and trials in 50 % or lower effluent dilutions.