Pilot Studies of Ozonation for Inactivation of Artemia salina Nauplii in Ballast Water

A pilot plant study was conducted in the Republic of Croatia to determine the applicability of ozonation for inactivation of non-indigenous species and to provide necessary information regarding use of ozone as a ballast water treatment option. Nauplii of the brine shrimp Artemia salina were used as model organisms to investigate the efficacy of ozonation at three different ozone dosages (2.4, 3.7 and 10.9 mg L-1). Mortality of Artemia nauplii at 98.6%, was achieved after 3 h of exposure in ozone-treated water with the highest ozone dosage. Our results indicated that ozonation is a promising treatment for controlling non-indigenous and potentially invasive species ; however, to draw more general conclusions, several species with higher level of resistance to ozone are required and will be studied in the future.