Basic Approval, Bal Pure Ballast Water Treatment
The Bal Pure ballast water treatment system from Severn Trent De Nora received basic approval from the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 60th session, March 22-26, 2010. As a result, Severn Trent De Nora has submitted its dossier for final approval of the system at an upcoming MEPC session. Severn Trent De Nora is also scheduled to conduct shipboard testing of the Bal Pure system May through November 2010 on the California Maritime Academy training ship, the T.S. Golden Bear.
The T.S. Golden Bear, a 500-ft vessel has been fitted with a modularized platform which enables ballast water treatment equipment manufacturers to test their system designs under real-life conditions. Testing is undertaken while the ship is berthed at the University’s campus on upper San Francisco Bay and during its summer training voyages on the Pacific. On-board testing facilities enable researchers to collect data, which is then compiled and used by the ballast water treatment equipment manufacturer to obtain certification from various organizations.
Bal Pure is a patented system that generates biocides, meters and analyzes the residual level of both biocides and neutralizing agents and logs the performance of the overall ballast water treatment system. The system is proven as an effective, economical and high-capacity device to treat ballast water, with no adverse effects on the environment. Systems accommodate flow rates of 250 to 10,000 m3/hr of ballast water. Systems to accommodate larger flow rates are available upon request. Basic approval of the Bal Pure system was granted under the “procedure for approval of ballast water management systems that make use of active substances (G9)” adopted by resolution MEPC.169(57).
Third-party testing has consistently confirmed the efficacy of the of the Bal Pure system. The system was tested by the United States Naval Research Laboratory, the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the Maritime Environmental Resource Center, meeting all D-2 standards for naturally occurring organisms as defined by the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments. Additionally in February 2008, the B ALP URE system was installed on the S/R American Progress, a double-hull U.S. flag tank ship operated by SeaRiver Maritime, Inc. The ship is participating in the United States Coast Guard’s Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program.
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