ELECTROCOAGULATION (CURE) TREATMENT OF SHIP BILGEWATER FOR THE UNITED-STATES COAST GUARD IN ALASKA

A wide variety of contaminants (i.e., heavy metals, suspended solids, colloids, oil) have been successfully removed from wastewater using va rious electrocoagulation systems. An innovative electrocoagulation sys tem developed by Cleanup and Recovery (CURE) Corporation is described. The results of afield study for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to treat 176,200 liters of bilgewater from two abandoned ships, La Pocena and I ncentive, are presented. The CURE process was effective in removing oi l and heavy metals (aluminum, boron, iron, and zinc) with removal effi ciencies ranging between 71 and 99 percent. The mobility of the CURE e quipment eliminated the need to transport the ship bilgewater for trea tment off the island, which resulted in an estimated .90 percent (U.S. $185,000) cost savings.