Identification and removal of microorganisms from ballast water in Sea of Marmara

Nowadays, the importance of maritime transport in the intercountry and intercontinental transports rapidly increase due to cheaper and more reliable. Because of rapidly increasing ship traffic, the need to regulations related to maritime safety and pollutants arisen from ships have come into prominence. Marine pollution may have negative consequences for human health, ship safety and the maritime and coastal environments. Among them, the studies have been focused the role of ballast water on marine environment pollution and their treatment aspects. In this study, the ballast water samples were taken from the various regions of the Sea of Marmara. It is investigated to presence of E. coli, fecal coliform, salmonella and enterococci by using membrane filtration method. Removal of the identified species was also examined by using a physical treatment unit. The highest total number of pathogen bacteria species was identified in the ballast water. The observed bacterial values were found to be over the International Maritime Organization (IMO) limit values. After the membrane filtration method was adopted, it was seen that although enterococci, salmonella and fecal coliform were completely removed, E. coli and other coliforms have not been sufficiently eliminated. As a result, it is determined that biofouling increases with rise of ship traffic.