Impacts of Limnoperna fortunei on man-made structures and control strategies: General overview

Abstract

In China and South America, severe fouling problems caused by Limnoperna fortunei have been reported for a number of industrial facilities, including water and wastewater processing plants, power plants (nuclear, hydroelectric, thermal), refineries, steel mills, fish culture facilities, water transfer canals and aqueducts, and watercraft. In Japan, biofouling chiefly affects agricultural irrigation systems, balancing reservoirs and balancing tanks. However, most available reports furnish little detail on the components affected and on the measures taken to cope with the nuisance. Objective estimates of the economic losses involved are extremely rare. Although fouling by the golden mussel has occasionally derived in operation at below-standard regimes and even temporary plant shutoffs, as maintenance personnel acquired experience in curtailing mussel growth in sensitive areas, serious incidents have become less common. Fouling by L. fortunei has not caused a single definitive plant shutdown. Control methods assessed (either in laboratory settings or in actual plant operating conditions) include antifouling materials and coatings, chemical treatments, manual/mechanical cleaning, filtration, thermal shock, anoxia and hypoxia, desiccation, ozonation, ultraviolet treatment, electric currents, ultrasound, manipulations of flow speed, biological control, and various miscellaneous methods.