Cruise ship waste ‘clean enough to drink’

By Becky Buyers-Basso, Reporter the Mount Desert Islander

BAR HARBOR — No one actually tried it. But the sewer plant engineers in the bowels of the Dutch cruise ship, Maasdam, proffered a flask of clear odorless liquid – treated wastewater – and said it was cleaner than drinking water.

“Holland America is very proud of being a frontrunner in environmental practices,” Captain Arlan Vanderlou told a group of local business, political and environmental leaders who were on board the ship Friday for a “behind the scenes” tour. They descended to decks below sea level to see the 718-foot, 10-deck, 1200-passenger ship’s sewer and garbage handling operations, desalination plant and engine control room.

The ship makes more visits to Bar Harbor each year than any other.

Rep. Ted Koffman a District 35 Democrat, Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce director Chris Fogg, Acadia National Park superintendent Sheridan Steele, other park personnel, Friends of Acadia staff and board members, Bangor mayor Richard Greene as well as representatives from Maine’s port authority and the United States Coast Guard took the tour. Amy Powers of CruiseMaine coordinated the event.

Among the VIPs was Dr. Jane Disney, executive director of the MDI Water Quality Coalition, who recently won an award recognizing her work with area children and her efforts to promote environmentally sustainable practices in and around local watersheds. Dr. Disney and a corps of volunteers have monitored water quality in Frenchman Bay in relationship to cruise ship visits here.

“We haven’t picked up any evidence of discharge from cruise ships since 2004,” she reported. “Maasdam has never discharged, and being one of the ships with advanced wastewater treatment systems, we wouldn’t be able to detect it if they did. It’s so clean.”

The Maasdam has been a regular visitor to Bar Harbor over the last five years, and has 19 stops scheduled for this summer. Its most common route is between Boston and Quebec, Mr. Dow reported, with an occasional transatlantic trip to its homeport of Rotterdam in Holland.

On either side of the Atlantic, the Maasdam treats all waste that goes down the sink or the toilet before discharging it overboard. That amounts to 600 gallons of material a day.

The process is a lengthy one, with the muck moving through a settling tank and then series of filters and then flowing into a large bioreactor tank where bacteria-eating organisms break down organic components of the wastewater.

“Our job is to keep those bugs alive,” said a sewer plant worker.After a specified amount of time in the bioreactor, the wastewater goes through more filtration, and finally is treated with ultraviolet light to kill any remaining bacteria. The byproducts of the process are a small amount of sludge and water reportedly clean enough to drink.

The treated water is then released overboard or used on board as ballast, said tour director Tom Dow, who works for Holland America and Carnival Corp., owners of several ships that call in Bar Harbor.

The whole process is overseen by staff in the engine control room, a virtual second bridge equipped with high tech cameras that monitors the bilge, the gray water and the ballast.

Maasdam’s garbage operation starts with pre-sorting glass, plastic and aluminum from other solid waste before it enters the garbage plant down below. There it’s sorted again and prepared for incineration (paper), overboard discharge (ground food waste) or recycling.

“We’re the best recyclers in the world,” said Mr. Cox, referring to cruise ship operators. “When we get to port, our cans are crushed, banded and palletized.”

When clean freshwater is not available, the ship can make it, using its onboard desalinization plant. It is basically a large evaporator that boils seawater.

“What falls out is freshwater,” said Mr. Cox. “Older ships used a process known as reverse osmosis which was very energy consumptive. This process is better and uses less energy.”

The fuel consumed on the Maasdam is significant, totaling several metric tons of oil an hour, depending on how many of the ship’s five engines are running at once.

“They are using the lowest grade of fuel because of cost,” said Dr. Disney, “which had a high sulfur content, causing air quality issues when it’s burned.

I found it interesting that Maasdam isn’t allowed to burn low-grade fuel when they are in San Diego. But they are following all the standards that we have here in Maine and in Bar Harbor.”

After the tour, the guests were treated to a sumptuous five-course meal served in the ship’s formal dining room where the windows framed Burnt Porcupine and Bar Islands.

“They’re a floating city,” said Dr. Disney.

Copyright: the Mount Desert Islander www.mdislander.com

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The CruiseMaine Coalition in partnership with the Maine Port Authority and the communities of Bangor, Belfast, Boothbay Harbor, Bar Harbor, Bucksport, Camden, Eastport, Freeport, Kennebunk-Kennebunkport, Portland, Rockland and several Associate Members including Chase Leavitt & Co., Discover New England, Down East Magazine, FlyBangor, GetEtched, Maine & Co., Maine Office of Tourism, Maine Tourism Association, Maine Department of Transportation, Penobscot Bay & River Pilot’s Association, and the Washington County Commissioner’s Office works to promote these communities to the travel trade, travel media and cruise industry as attractive cruise destinations. We also provide the relative community and business support necessary for these areas to become and remain viable, productive cruise destinations while promoting cultural preservation and responsible tourism.