Description of 20/30381909 DC 2020

This document provides guidance to ballast water sampling teams or other concerned parties on the selection and use of sampling apparatus needed to collect and process ballast water discharge samples aboard a ship from sample ports installed in accordance with ISO 11711-1. It includes an overview of the sampling process, discussion on design and maintenance of sample probes, necessary sample flow rates, sample collection devices that incorporate sample flow control to maintain representative sampling conditions, and handling of samples for subsequent analyses. The purpose and required statistical confidence of measurements will dictate sample collection timing (e.g. beginning, middle, end of the discharge), duration (i.e. collection time), volume collected, and volume analysed. Thus, these measurement requirements must be defined by the sampling team for each sampling event; this document defines the necessary parameters but does not specify their values.

Specifically, this document defines appropriate sample probe and sample flow control to achieve representative sampling and minimize measurement uncertainty consistent with measurement requirements. Appropriate sample volumes and collection times provide statistical confidence for viable organism counts at the discharge limit. Regulation D-2 requires the measurement of two organism size classes: ≥ 10 and < 50 µm (<10 organisms ml⁻¹) and ≥ 50 µm (<10 organisms m⁻³), and three indicator microbes: toxigenic Vibrio cholerae (serotypes O1 and O139, < 1 cfu 100 ml⁻¹ or < 1 cfu g⁻¹ wet weight zoopl.), Escherichia coli (<250 cfu 100 ml⁻¹), and intestinal enterococci (<100 cfu 100 ml⁻¹). Sampling approaches for each are provided, where both indicative and detailed analyses of viable organisms are supported, as defined by BWM.2-Circ.42/Rev.1, as may be amended, and considering the criteria in ISO 17025 for quality management, measurement uncertainty, and standardized procedures. Additional information on uncertainty will be available in Part 3 of 11711. ISO 11711 does not intend to add any requirements to the BWM Convention or related documents of IMO, but provides supplemental guidance for sampling of ballast water.

In practice, activities of the sampling team must be coordinated with the actions of the ship and crew. This is necessary both for safety and to schedule the collection and processing of ballast water samples. In preparation for sampling, the sample probe must be installed in the shipboard sample port and connected to the sample collection apparatus. Similarly, the return port when present, is connected as needed. Selection of the sample probe and other sample collection apparatus appropriate for the ship discharge will be determined by the sample collection team according to the guidance in this document, and the timing of sample collection will be determined by the measurement requirements, as described in Clause 4.3.1, for the ballast discharge.

Certain information regarding the ship’s ballasting and ballast water management systems is required by the sampling team in advance of the sampling event in order to determine the appropriate safety procedures, materials, equipment, and sample collection parameters. A sampling requirements worksheet is provided as Annex B to facilitate documenting this information. However, sampling teams may require additional information not identified in this document, and they will need to address logistics for ship access that are outside the scope of this document.

This document primarily addresses the collection of ballast water discharge samples. However this guidance may also be applied to uptake samples with consideration of appropriate sample volumes given anticipated organism concentrations in ambient (as opposed to treated) waters.

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