Shane Weaver

What Is Ballast Water And How It Is Harmful?

Ballast water is salt water or fresh water which is held in ballast tanks of ships. This water is filled in tanks to provide stability and easy maneuverability, during a voyage, when ships are not carrying cargo, or in rough seas, more stability is required. Ballast water is also sometimes added to tanks to give weight so that ships can sink low enough in the water when it passes under bridges and other such structures. Generally, water ballast system in South China is used to give stability to the floating vessels in South China, and ballast water treatment is done to remove invasive marine species from ballas water. As per reports, one of the major pathways for indigenous marine species, is ballast water.

When ships go from one port to other port and they release ballast water at new port, then there is risk of introducing small fishes to microorganism, into the water around the ship,which has harmful effects. To avoid these harmful effects, ballast water treatment is done and as per law and regulation this has made compulsory for all ships to have ballast water treatment systems on it. There are many types of ballast water treatment systems, these are, 1) physical separation or filtration system, 2) UV system, 3) chemical treatment, 4) Deoxygenation, 5) Heat treatment, 6) Electric pulse and pulse plasma treatment, 7) Ultrasonic or cavitation treatment and 8) Magnetic field treatment.

Which of the above systems will be most suitable, depends on different factors, these are flow ballast water (m3/hr), total amount of ballast water which is to be cleaned, new build, company's policy about waste disposal. One of the methods adopted is to pass the ballast water through a filter for physical treatment to remove living organisms. After this, ballast water is sterilized to kill microbes by chemical treatment, by use of chemicals, and treated water is filled in ballast tanks. So, it can be said that treatment of ballast water is very important and is also necessary as per recent rules.

Author Bio

Shane advises people about marine equipments, electronic parts including ship remote control system, boiler control system and incinerator repair etc. You can find his thoughts at marine systems blog.