USCG Grants BWTS Type Approval to Ecochlor

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has issued the USCG Type Approval Certificate to Ecochlor, a Boston-based manufacturer of ballast water treatment systems (BWTS).

The fifth USCG certificate was issued after a detailed review of the manufacturer’s type approval application determined the system met the requirements of 46 CFR 162.060.

The Ecochlor BWTS uses a two-step process that includes filtration and treatment with chlorine dioxide (ClO2). The company says the technology is completely effective on all aquatic invasive species regardless of water turbidity, salinity or temperature.

“The Ecochlor BWTS works just as effectively as it did when first installed in a ship in 2004 without any fundamental changes. Since that first system was sold, the Ecochlor System has undergone extensive testing and received International Maritime Organization (IMO) Type Approval (2011), US Coast Guard (USCG) Alternative Management System (AMS) Acceptance (2013), and numerous classification society approvals including Lloyd’s Register, American Bureau of Shipping, Class NK, Bureau Veritas, and RMRS,” Tom Perlich, President and Founder of Ecochlor, said.

“USCG Type Approval, Ecochlor’s final benchmark, validates all the hard work we expended to ensure there is a reliable, efficient, cost-effective treatment system available to shipowners,” Perlich added.

The Ecochlor System provides shipowners with several features. One of these is low power consumption. Typical power requirements for the Ecochlor System treating a flow rate of 8,000 m3/hr is 12 kWh, with maximum requirements reaching as high as 35 kWh.

“Not only does the Ecochlor BWTS have low power consumption, it is highly effective in all types of waters,” Steve Candito, Ecochlor’s CEO, explained. The system was engineered with many safety and redundancy features, such as pressurized double wall storage tanks, flow controls and a vacuum mixing chamber where the chlorine dioxide is generated on-demand.

Another feature of the Ecochlor System is a small footprint, which makes it space efficient, even for larger capacity systems. The BWTS offers a modular approach providing further flexibility in tight spaces. Only a single treatment system is required, with up to three chemical injection points connected to the vessel’s ballast lines, according to Ecochlor.

The approval covers fourteen models with maximum treatment rated capacities between 500 m³/h and 16,200 m³/h.

Apart from Ecochlor, Optimarin, OceanSaver AS, Alfa Laval and Sunrui received USCG certificates so far.