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MERC Hyde Test Plan
12 April 2012
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1. Background and Objectives of MERC Technology Evaluations
The Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) is a State of Maryland initiative
that provides test facilities, information, and decision tools to address key environmental issues
facing the international maritime industry. The Center’s primary focus is to evaluate the
mechanical and biological efficacy, associated costs, and logistical aspects of ballast water
treatment systems and the economic impacts of ballast water regulations and management
approaches. A full description of MERC’s structure, products, and services can be found at
www.maritime-enviro.org.
To address the need for effective, safe, and reliable ballast water treatment systems to
prevent the introduction of non-native species, MERC has developed as a partnership between
the Maryland Port Administration (MPA), Chesapeake Biological Laboratory/ University of
Maryland Center for Environmental Science (CBL/UMCES), U.S. Maritime Administration
(MARAD), Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), University of Maryland
(UMD), and Old Dominion University to provide independent performance testing and to help
facilitate the transition of new treatment technologies to shipboard implementation and
operations.
The following protocols describe how MERC will evaluate the performance
characteristics of the Hyde Filter + UV Ballast Water Treatment Systems through objective and
quality assured land-based testing (dockside at a flow rate of 200m
3
/hr). The goal of this specific
evaluation is to provide shipping lines, regulators, and flag states with an independent and
credible assessment of treatment performance under realistic conditions. Therefore, the data and
information on performance characteristics will cover legitimate information that users need and
will compare performance against the International Maritime Organization (IMO) D2 regulatory
discharge standards.
MERC does not certify technologies nor guarantee that a treatment will always, or under
circumstances other than those used in testing, operate at the levels verified. Treatment systems
are not labeled or listed as acceptable or unacceptable but tests and results are in a format
consistent with that requested by specific regulations (e.g., IMO D2, G8 and G9) so that can be
used to determine compliance by Administrations and classification societies. Sampling and
analytical procedures utilized by the MERC team also comply with the US Environmental
Protection Agency ETV Protocols (2010) in anticipation of the publication of U.S. Federal
Standards under the auspices of the U.S. Coast Guard. Final reports on technology performance
will be reviewed by the members of the MERC Advisory Board and provided to Hyde and the
MERC funding agencies prior to public release. All specific terms of a testing program
associated with a particular treatment system, including management of test findings, are
outlined in a Participation Agreement executed between the treatment developer and
MERC/University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
While a goal of MERC is to provide independent G8 (G9)/ETV compliant testing of the
performance of ballast water treatment systems, it is ultimately up to individual Administrations
to decide if this system meets their requirements for Type Approval Certification.