Ozone News recently reported about the EPA ETV (Environmental Technology Verification) program for ballast water. the program does not approve or endorse technologies, but simply provides objective data on various technologies so stakeholders can evaluate the technologies themselves.
As noted in previous posts, there are concerns that ballast water may allow invasive species to move from one body of water to another via ships. Ozone has been proposed as one of the treatment technologies for this application because it is a well know and effective disinfecting agent.
The EPA program (www.epa.gov/etv) began in June 2011 with land based testing protocols. Sea based testing will follow. The protocol includes the organisms to be tested. For ozone based technologies brackish and non-brackish water must be tested.
The testing will take place at three testing centers: Great Ships Initiative (Superior, WI), maritime Environmental Resource Center (Chesapeake Bay, MD) and Golden Bear (San Francisco, CA).
The testing will include: biological treatment efficacy, O&M issues, cost factors, environmental acceptability and safety. the process must be able to treat 200 m3 in one hour.