On-board purification systems are an attractive alternative for waste water treatment on passenger barges and tourist boats. Otherwise, the waste water must be stored on board and disposed of on land. Due to the shortage of on board space, space-saving membrane bioreactors represent the most appropriate solution in on-board purification.
However, until now no scientific verdict regarding the capacity, operational stability and cost-efficiency of these systems was available. With the analysis by the Testing and Development Institute for Waste Water Technology (Prüf- und Entwicklungsinstitut für Abwassertechnik) at the RWTH in Aachen, conducted on board two cruise ships over several days, such data has now been produced.
The investigations focused on the operation of two systems, Type BMA® 300, from the project partner Martin Systems AG of Sonneberg. In practical use it was demonstrated that values within the required upper limit (CSB 125 mg/l and BSB5 25mg/l) could be maintained without difficulty in stable operation. On grounds of the high purification capacity and compact design, the Institute emphasizes in its summary the advantages of the membrane technology over conventional on-board purification.
However, the advantages are coupled with somewhat higher investment and operating costs. In its conclusion the Institute recommends further investigations into the waste water situation on cruise ships, as the results achieved are only applicable on other ships to a limited extent. The Institute states in closing that the equipage of conventional on-board treatment systems with membrane technology could be an interesting option for the future.
