Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2015)

BALLAST WATER TECHNOLOGY

Ballast Water Technology Business

Gearing for the Surge in ‘16Gearing for the Surge in ‘16

While the trek to see the ballast water tech- nology market ‘really take off’ has stretched more than a decade longer than he antici- pated, Ecochlor’s president Tom Perlich has maintained course and is ready to grow in rapid step with the market.

By Greg Trauthwein hen Tom Perlich left Cor- something that is highly effective that porate America in 2001 will kill the most tenacious organisms to start Ecochlor, he left under a wide variety of water conditions;

W behind the security of chlorine dioxide is perfect for that.” a major corporation and all of its ben- So began a journey of nearly 14 years. e? ts, just one month after the birth of his Perlich was encouraged to see his ? rst fourth child. Why? He saw the vast po- system sold within two years. To date tential of the global Ballast Water Tech- eight Ecochlor systems are in ships and nology (BWT) market, which at the time on the water with an additional 32 sys- he assessed it would really take off in just tems on order. He sees 2016, with the six months. ? nalization of BWT rules and the be- “What you want ... is something that is highly effective on the “I missed that,” he deadpanned during grudging acceptance by shipowners to a visit to his of? ce earlier in the summer. accept the BWT reality, as the true turn- inside of the tank to kill the most tenacious organisms,

While Perlich may have been off in ing point for his company and the indus- but you don’t want to disrupt the most sensitive organism on his timing, he shares a literal shipload of try as a whole.

companions in this regard, as the BWT “We have been seeing a lot of activity the outside of the tank. Chlorine Dioxide is perfect for that.” issue slowly but surely inches toward in the last six months, and I expect Q4 resolution both at the international and 2015, in preparation for 2016 to be very

Tom Perlich, President, Ecochlor domestic U.S. level. busy. We’re starting to see shipowners

Perlich has made a career in water treat- begin to take this issue much more seri- ment technology, and he found out about ously than two years ago. The people on

The System it oxidizes.” Perlich said one of the ad- the BWT issue about 15 years ago in a the shipowner side that are calling meet-

Ecochlor Ballast Water Treatment Sys- vantages of the Ecochlor system lies in paper written about the Chesapeake Bay. ings are the senior decision makers who “We looked at the different technolo- have done their research and are asking tems use chlorine dioxide technology, its ? exibility. He has targeted the re? t which has been used in water treatment market as a prime one for the Ecochlor gies that people were exploring, and I more targeted questions on ease of instal- simply didn’t think (that many of them) lation, long-term effectiveness as well as and industrial applications in over 50 solution, and notes that the components countries world-wide for over 60 years. that make up the system can be re-ar- were going to work effectively. I was sur- true life-cycle costs.” “Chlorine dioxide is preferred over ranged liberally per ship type and size. prised to ? nd that no one had looked at Today, Ecochlor has the ability to build chlorine in dirty water applications, be- The system, with the exception of the ? l- chlorine dioxide, which I felt was hands- 150 to 180 systems per year, but is stan- down the best technology for two rea- dardizing processes and procedures that cause chlorine will chlorinate organics ters, can be placed almost anywhere on sons: it is highly effective, and the chlo- will make it easy to ramp up production and create chlorinated by-products,” said the vessel and can be custom designed to

Perlich. “In many industries, chlorine is meet existing space limitations.

rine dioxide by itself will decay quickly as needed,” Perlich contends. “I don’t see in water,” said Perlich. a bottleneck; it’s a simple system, with being replaced by technologies that don’t “Right now, we’re concentrating on the chlorinate, because it doesn’t chlorinate, retro? t because the newbuild market has “What you want for ballast water is many standard components.” 40 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • AUGUST 2015

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