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

 

Recreational Craft

Dipl.-Ing. Markus Joswig

Head of Marine Services
  +49 241 75082-15
  +49 241 75082-29
 
 

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

Type Approval

Dipl.-Ing. Markus Joswig

Head of Marine Services
  +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.

 

Aktuelle News

 

News

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.

Konstituierende Sitzung eines Arbeitskreises der DIN-Normenstelle Schiffs- und Meerestechnik

Am 26.10.2016 findet die konstituierende Sitzung eines Arbeitskreises der DIN-Normenstelle Schiffs- und Meerestechnik zur Normung der Prüfung von Abwasserbehandlungsanlagen an Bord von Seeschiffen statt.

Für Kläranlagen zum Einsatz an Bord von Seeschiffen ist eine Zulassungsprüfung vorgeschrieben. Da jedoch die für eine Zulassung maßgebliche Prüfung im Regelfall an Land stattfindet, bilden die Prüfrahmenbedingungen die Wirklichkeit an Bord nicht ausreichend ab. Aufgrund einschlägiger Erfahrungen bezüglich der Funktionstüchtigkeit geprüfter Anlagen an Bord erscheint die Festlegung einheitlicher und reproduzierbarer Rahmenbedingungen zur Schaffung von Wettbewerbsgleichheit sehr sinnvoll. Die Infragestellung geltender Vorschriften zu den Ablaufwerten ist kein Bestandteil dieses Normenprojekts. Eine Norm zur „Prüfung und Verifikation von Anlagen zur Abwasserbehandlung an Bord von Seeschiffen“ sollte z.B. folgende Punkte berücksichtigen:

  • Einheitliche Testbedingungen
  • Aussagekräftiger Testzeitraum
  • Vergleichbarkeit der Leistungsangaben
  • Verknüpfung vorhandener Zulassungsprüfungen (MEPC.227(64), RheinSchUO, Richtlinie 2006/87/EG (geändert durch Richtlinie 2012/49/EG), 33 CFR Part 159, …)
  • Verifizierung der installierten Anlagen (Compliance)
  • Instrument zur Qualitätssicherung im Rahmen der Zulassung von Anlagen zur Abwasserbehandlung an Bord von Schiffen

 

An der Mitgestaltung der Norm Interessierte wenden sich bitte bis 19.10.2016 an:

  • Dr-Ing. Jens. U. Jendroßek
  • Projektmanager der NSMT