FRESHWATER VERIFICATION OF THE B-QUA QUICK BALLAST WATER MONITORING KIT

Abstract

This technical report presents findings from bench-scale verification tests evaluating the performance of the B-QUA Quick Ballast Water Monitoring Kit, hereafter B-QUA, in freshwater. B-QUA was developed by LuminUltra Technologies Ltd. of New Brunswick, Canada. Researchers began conducting the bench-scale evaluation in October 2019 and ending in February 2020 at the Lake Superior Research Institute (LSRI) of the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) in Superior, Wisconsin, USA. The monitoring kit utilizes adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and size fractionation to quantify living organisms in marine, brackish, and freshwater. The measurement of ATP is one of the indicative analyses to test for gross compliance with the D-2 ballast water management standard under the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, which applies to countries outside of the United States, including Canada (IMO, 2015). Two phases of testing were done. Phase I testing was completed in two water types using cultured organisms in the three regulated size classes, utilizing the pathogen indicator organisms Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium, the algae Haematococcus pluvialis and the zooplankton Ceriodaphnia dubia and Daphnia magna. Phase II testing was completed using naturally occurring Great Lakes organisms in the Duluth-Superior Harbor of Lake Superior in two of the regulated size classes. Phase I testing showed high correlation of B-QUA’s luminometer output (i.e., cATP values) with microscopic counts for the algae Haematococcus pluvialis (≥10 μm to <50 μm size class) and the zooplankton Ceriodaphnia dubia and Daphnia magna (>50 μm size class) in both water types. However, the B-QUA system was unable to detect E. coli or E. faecium (<10 μm size class) at levels above the D2 regulatory value in either water type in Phase I. Phase II correlation between B-QUA cATP values and microscopic counts was good for natural assemblages of phytoplankton and zooplankton in Duluth-Superior harbor water.