Although seawater is used as ballast for vessel stabilization to provide a safe and efficient operating condition during the sea voyage, it may create serious damage ecologically and economically to the host environment if the ballast water is released into the sea without being treated since species including microbes, bacteria, cysts and in one-word micro-organisms carried in the vessel becoming invasive and starting regrowth, and multiplied in the destination port which destroys the ecosystem.
Here is some example of serious invasions recorded in the link below;
Marine invaders have the ability to alter the marine ecosystem of the destination ports as the water drains from the ballast of commercial and industrial vessels causing species to become extinct. Standards for the vessel ballast system are set each year by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM) to reduce these environmental impacts and introduce global regulations respectively.
Therefore, Ships are required to be surveyed and certified. Secondly, ships are forced to provide their ballast water management plan and must record the info in the ballast water record book and hold an international ballast water management certificate.
Various techniques are utilized to treat the above-mentioned water in ships (Ballast Water Treatment). One of the most widely used technologies in this field is the use of filtration with seawater electrolysis systems, which is more practical, reasonable, and principled in terms of efficiency and cost than other methods to ensure an appropriate level of protection for the environment, human health, property or resources, and are approved in principle by IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC).
ULTRANODE Inc Canada product is designed in accordance with the latest international standards and is used in ship ballast water treatment systems. The filtration system is used to remove micro-organisms that are often larger than 50 micrometers, as well as to capture aquatic animals, salts, and so on. After filtration of the seawater, the electrolyzer package is used to eliminate the remaining harmful microorganisms, which are disinfected by producing sodium hypochlorite.