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Evaluation of quick, inexpensive, and reliable methods for determining if ballast water

discharges meet proposed toxicity standards

Noah S. Adams 1, Scott S. Smith 2, Bryan Bjorndal 3, Randall Marshall 4, Allen Pleus 5, Rian Hooff 6, Gary Gertsen 5 and Keith Strieck 5.

1Primary Author (and contact) United States Geological Survey, Email: nadams@usgs.gov, 2USGS- Western Fisheries Research Center, 3Assure Control, 4Oregon State Department of Ecology, 5Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 6Oregon State Department of Environmental Quality

Presented at the Pacific Ballast Work Group, Portland Oregon, April 16, 2014

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Presentation OutlineBackground

- Previous research that lead to this project

Current Project “100 ships initiative”- Goals - Develop sampling protocols - Gather baseline data

Preliminary Results- 6 countries of origin- 14 vessels

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Background

Development of a simple, inexpensive, and rapid ballast water treatment system (2009)

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)

Nozzle Mixing Methods

Patents in process

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Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)

Free and protected exchange of information to refine existing ideas or develop new ideas

Private Sector U.S. Government

Accelerate the development and commercialization of ideas that could benefit society

Unbiased evaluation

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Nozzle mixing was successful (1-3 hours) …but, what about water quality and how do we quantify success??

What is water quality before treatment?

- Is the proper chemistry present for effective treatment?

What is water quality after treatment?

- Is the biocide neutralized before discharge.

In short, chemical toxins may be present (either prior to or because of the treatment) that could cause the ballast to be noncompliant with discharge standards.

Chlorine

Mercury

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Very little is known about water quality in ballast tanks, partly because current testing methods are expensive and time consuming

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Search for a simple, inexpensive, and rapid field test to evaluate ballast water quality

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)

Based on a Biosensor

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Biosensor = Bioluminescence Plankton

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Biosensor in clean water

% o

f ligh

t

Tank #1 Tank #2 Tank #3 Tank #4 Tank #5

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Chlorine

Lead

Cadmium

Mercury

Epoxy Resin

Biosensors can be a good way to

measure overall ballast water quality……..

……and determine if water chemistry is compliant with IMO and other regulatory standards

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“100 ships initiative” - Develop sampling protocols - Gather baseline data

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How to sample the water- Water sampling devises- Depth in tank to take sample

Other variable to measure when sample is taken

- Temperature- Salinity- pH- Dissolved Oxygen- Others?

Protocol Development

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Protocol DevelopmentPre - Filtering Holding Temperature

Holding TimeGrazers?

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Japan Mexico USA China S. Korea Taiwan0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1009

11 312 6

5

17

3

4

12

133

126

Percent of Control Bioluminescence%

Protocol development testing results

14 sample representing 6 countries of origin

Number above bar is days water was in tank

Conduct furtheranalysis

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4° C Room Temp

4° C Room Temp

4° C Room Temp

4° C Room Temp

4° C Room Temp

USA S. Korea Taiwan Japan Mexico

0102030405060708090

100

Holding Temperature of Sample Before Testing %

Protocol development testing results

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Filte

red

Unfi

ltere

d

Filte

red

Unfi

ltere

d

Filte

red

Unfi

ltere

d

Filte

red

Unfi

ltere

d

Filte

red

Unfi

ltere

d

USA S. Korea Taiwan Japan Mexico

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Filtered vs. Unfiltered Samples50 µM screen

%

Protocol development testing results

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Summary- The QwikLite shows promise as a simple,

inexpensive, and rapid way to test ballast water.

- Protocol development is complete.

- Currently have about 70 of the targeted 100 samples.

- Results will be published.

Future Directions- Our hope is that others will conduct similar

sampling to expand global knowledge of ballast water quality.

- This system appears to be an way to quickly and inexpensively evaluate ballast treatment systems.

- What about biological testing?

Chlorine

Epoxy Resin ?

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Questions?

Acknowledgements

Rian Hooff Allen PleusGary GertsenKeith Strieck

Bryan Bjorndal