Introduction

PIA provides independent testing services to the marine industry. Many years of experience in the field of water treatment and the international recognition of our tests by authorities and classification societies enable us to provide our customers with a high-quality service.

Our range of services includes the following business areas:

  • Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS)
  • Sewage Treatment Systems (STP) and Marine Sanitation Devices (MSD)
  • Oily Water Separators (OWS) and Bilge Monitors
  • River Cruises Technical Service
  • On-board Surveys, Sampling and Analysis
  • Training

PIA GmbH is accepted by:

  • the Ship Safety Division of the BG for Transport and Traffic (former See-BG) for testing of sewage treatment plants according to IMO Resolution MEPC.227(64) as amended by MEPC.284(70)
  • the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine as Technical Service for the approval of on-board sewage treatment plants according to article 18.10 of the European Standard laying down Technical Requirements for Inland Navigation vessels (ES-TRIN)
  • the International Marine Certification Institute (IMCI) as recognized laboratory for testing sewage treatment systems for use on small craft according to ISO 8099-2
  • recognized Technical Service by DMI EMCI as recognized Technical Service for testing sewage treatment systems for use on small craft according to the Dutch regulation “Regeling lozen buiten inrichtingen”

PIA GmbH is accepted by the United States Coast Guard:

  • as a Recognized Facility for evaluating, inspecting and testing marine sanitation devices for compliance with the standards and regulations in 33 CFR Part 159 as promulgated under section 312 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1322)
  • as a Qualified Facility for evaluating, inspecting and testing of sewage treatment plants for compliance with the standards and regulations in IMO Resolution MEPC.227(64) and in 33 CFR Part 159 as promulgated under section 312 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1322)
  • as a Recognized Facility for collecting and testing effluent in certain Alaskan waters from cruise vessel operations for compliance with the standards and regulations in Subpart E to 33 CFR Part 159 as promulgated under section 1(a)(4) in Pub. L. 106-554
  • as a Designated Facility for performing approval testing on pollution prevention equipment (PPE) for compliance with the standards and regulations contained in IMO Resolutions MEPC.107(49), MEPC.108(49) & MEPC.240(65) and 46 CFR 162.050, as promulgated under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.). PPE includes 15 ppm bilge separators and 15 ppm bilge alarms.
  • as an Independent Laboratory (IL) for testing Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) for compliance with the standards and regulations in 46 CFR 162.060

 

Ballast Water

Dipl.-Ing. Markus Joswig

Managing Director
  +49 241 75082-15
  +49 241 75082-29
 
 

PIA is accepted by U.S. Coast Guard as Independent Laboratory for testing of Ballast Water Management Systems

The U.S. Coast Guard requires type approval testing of Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) to be conducted by an organization independent of the manufacturer. PIA is accepted by the U.S. Coast Guard as Independent Laboratory (IL) for testing BWMS.

Our approval program allows USCG and IMO BWMS Code testing requirements to be met at the same time. The close partnership with experts enables us to offer our customers a service package characterized by professionalism, quality and flexibility.

In the capacity as IL, PIA will evaluate the readiness of a manufacturer’s BWMS for shipboard installation and type approval testing. PIA is responsible for oversight of the land-based testing, shipboard testing, environmental (component) testing and preparation of the BWMS Test Report.

 IL Grafik

Recreational Craft

Dipl.-Ing. Markus Joswig

Managing Director
  +49 241 75082-15
  +49 241 75082-29
 
 

TD.029 Technische dienst certificate V1 page1 web

IMCI Medaille 110922 2R web

PIA offers testing of watewater treatment systems for use on recreational craft according to national and international standards.

 

Type Approval

Dipl.-Ing. Markus Joswig

Managing Director
  +49 241 75082-15
  +49 241 75082-29
 
 

PIA offers tests for type approval of waste water treatment systems in cooperation with flag state administrations and classification societies according to national and international standards.

An overview about the effluent standards is given in the following table:

 

* 100 mg/l when tested onboard, 50 mg/l when tested ashore

** no visible floating solids

*** applicable to passenger ships which operate in MARPOL Annex IV special areas and which intend to discharge treated sewage effluent into the sea
  IMOUSCG
  MEPC.2(VI)MEPC.159(55)MEPC.227(64)Type IType IIAlaska
    since 2003 since 2010 since 2016      
BOD5 [mg/l] 50 25 25 Qi/Qe - - 30
COD [mg/l] - 125 125 Qi/Qe - - -
TSS [mg/l] 100* 35 35 Qi/Qe -** 150 30
coliforms [cfu/100ml] 250 100 100 Qi/Qe 1000 200 20
residual chlorine [mg/l] - 0,5 0,5 - - 0,01
pH [-] - 6,0 - 8,5 6,0 - 8,5 - - 6,0 - 9,0
Ntot [mg/l] - - 20 Qi/Qe - - -
Ptot [mg/l] - - 1 Qi/Qe - - -

 

Compliance Testing

PIA offers testing for compliance during ship operation as required for example by Alaskan Regulations for cruise ships and EU Regulations for inland passenger vessels.

 

Irish Certificates

Recent News

News

 

On June 1, 2021, additional requirements for discharging wastewater into the Baltic Sea enter into force!

In order to reduce nutrient discharges from ships into the Baltic Sea the HELCOM - Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission proposal to designate the Baltic Sea as MARPOL Annex IV special area was sent to International Maritime Organization in 2010. Although the designation of the Baltic Sea already entered into force in 2013 the applicable date of enforcement has been set for June 1, 2021 for existing IMO registered passenger ships. For direct passages between St. Petersburg and the North Sea there is an extension until 1 June 2023.​

In the meantime, it has been recognized that further measures are needed to ensure the effectiveness of the environmental protection measures in MARPOL Annex IV. In addition to the revision of the type approval in MEPC.227(64), this also includes methods for inspection of installations and discharges on board during operation.

For more information and assistance on how to comply with these new requirements, please feel free to contact us.

PIA GmbH approved by U.S. Coast Guard as Independent Laboratory for testing of Ballast Water Management Systems

PIA GmbH expands maritime testing services as an Independent Laboratory (IL) and received a letter of acceptance by the United States Coast Guard Office for Operating and Environmental Standards for testing of Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) to meet the requirements in 46 CFR 162.060.

 IL Acceptance

PIA provides this service in collaboration with its sub-laboratories:

  • Ankron Water Services GmbH, Germany
  • Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore SAS, France
  • Golden Bear Facility at California State University Maritime Academy, USA
  • Phoenix Testlab GmbH, Germany

In addition, PIA is accepted by the U.S. Coast Guard for testing of marine sanitation devices and oily water separators:

  • Recognized Facility for evaluating, inspecting and testing marine sanitation devices for compliance with the standards and regulations in 33 CFR Part 159 as promulgated under section 312 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1322).
  • Qualified Facility for evaluating, inspecting and testing of sewage treatment plants for compliance with the standards and regulations in IMO Resolution MEPC.227(64) and in 33 CFR Part 159 as promulgated under section 312 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1322).
  • Recognized Facility for collecting and testing effluent in certain Alaskan waters from cruise vessel operations for compliance with the standards and regulations in Subpart E to 33 CFR Part 159 as promulgated under section 1(a)(4) in Pub. L. 106-554.
  • Designated Facility for performing approval testing on pollution prevention equipment (PPE) for compliance with the standards and regulations contained in IMO Resolutions MEPC.107(49), MEPC.108(49) & MEPC.240(65) and 46 CFR 162.050, as promulgated under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.). PPE includes 15 ppm bilge separators and 15 ppm bilge alarms.

Joint paper on non-conformities with marine sewage regulations for greywater

The paper explores non-conformities with marine sewage rules. It follows previous joint-papers on chlorination disinfection without de-chlorination, no-sludge and recirculation-via-influent. These non-conformities are widening the gap between rules and realities.

The article Opinion: Grey Water Related Non-Conformities Need to be Addressed can be accessed via the following link:
https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/opinion-grey-water-non-conformities-need-to-be-addressed 

For further information, please refer to the following related publications:

 

 

Seventh HELCOM Cooperation Platform on PRF in the Baltic Sea

Seventh HELCOM Cooperation Platform on Port Reception Facilities (PRF) in the Baltic Sea meeting will be held at the premises of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) on Wednesday, 13 September 2017. Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention, Observer Organizations as well as other public sector institutions and relevant stakeholders are invited to the meeting of HELCOM Cooperation Platform.

The meeting will particularly focus on the ongoing project of the developement of a “Best Practice Guidance for the handling of wastewater in Ports" for the Special Area Baltic Sea, as well as the results of the CLIA simulation exercise on MARPOL Annex IV Special Area and practical case studies of specific ports, including proposals for next steps for consideration by HELCOM MARITIME 17-2017.

Practical information for participants and the provisional programme are available on the CP PRF 7-2017 Meeting Site in HELCOM Meeting Portal.

Amendments to resolution MEPC.227(64) adopted

On its seventieth session the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted resolution MEPC.284(70) on Amendments to the 2012 Guidelines on implementation of effluent standards and performance tests for sewage treatment plants. The resolution includes new forms of certificates of the type approval for sewage treatment plants. Compliance with the special area requirements in regulation 9.2.1 of MARPOL Annex IV is now certified on a separate certificate of type approval.
The Baltic Sea Special Area will take effect on:
- 1 June 2019 for new passenger ships;
- 1 June 2021 for existing passenger ships other than those specified below; and
- 1 June 2023 for existing passenger ships en route directly to or from a port located outside the special area and to or from a port located east of longitude 28˚10' E within the special area that do not make any other port calls within the special area.