FLUVIAL HYDROVIES The expansion of invading bivalves.

The river communications network is a development factor in many nations in Europe, America and Asia. Thanks to these waterways, true highways of maritime transport, economic development has been possible to reach remote places in countries whose dimensions exceed the world average. Countries such as Brazil, USA, India, China, Argentina, Canada, etc., have a network of really important waterways.

South America represents 12% of the firm surface of the earth, but the volume of water in its rivers represents "almost half of the sum of all water courses on the planet" (47%), according to a CAF document

Five are the large basins with navigable courses that reach the heart of South America and extend for thousands of kilometers: those of the Orinoco (Colombia and Venezuela), the Amazon (Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador), the Magdalena (Colombia) , San Francisco (Brazil) and Plata (Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay).

At 42,827.5 km. of waterways in Brazil, 2,933 vessels of all types pass. In addition to transporting goods and passengers, thousands of L. fortunei adults also travel in these boats, attached to their hulls.

Western Europe has more than 30,000 km of canals and rivers that link hundreds of industrial centers and large concentrations of population. The main network connects Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Austria, and heavy materials, bulk merchandise, construction products, containers, special size cargoes, etc. circulate through it. There are also significant networks in this regard Italy, Finland, United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal.

The inland waterways of the United States include more than 25,000 miles (40,000 km) of inland water. Most commercially important waterways in the United States consist of the Mississippi River system and connection channels.

Canada is the only country to have almost 800,000 km 2 of fresh water within its limits. The lakes that make up most of this vast area are interconnected by river systems. The Mackenzie River, which drains an area of 1,870,000 km 2, is the seventh largest river system in the world.

In the Asian continent China has navigable rivers with a total of 110,000 km (Yangtze 6 418 km with 3,000 km suitable for navigation of large ships)

India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, standing waters and streams. The total navigable length is 14,500 km (9,000 miles), of which around 5,200 km (3,200 miles) of the river and 4,000 km (2,500 miles) of canals can be used by mechanized vessels.

The waterways represent an important transport structure through which thousands of boats of all types navigate daily, through many countries of the world.

The river port infrastructures and the boats themselves, are constituted, in this case, as the main vectors of the expansion of the invading bivalve mollusk pests.

The adhesions and inlays in the hulls of the boats, makes it possible that myriads of small mollusks can move for thousands of kilometers a year, thanks to the activity of passenger transport and all kinds of products that these boats provide.

The lack of a permanent and efficient control in river ports, makes this problem reach every day, of unimaginable proportions. Carrying out control over fixed and mobile infrastructures is a challenge, key to reducing and controlling constant growth of the expansion.

On the other hand, the hulls of the vessels with important inlays of aquatic organisms, represent an added cost to the energy consumed per mile traveled. The reduction of the speed of the boats is an element that affects the economy of the shipping companies.

The efficient control of settlements in floating, fixed and mobile structures is today possible without this operation being a relevant cost. Static and dynamic inhibitor equipment specially designed for this type of incident, is prepared for an active life of more than 5 years.

The ECOWATER INNOVA Observation and Control Centers are action spaces that are activated through technology cooperation agreements with the actors involved in the problem. These centers are responsible for overhauling and operating on mobile and fixed infrastructure (ports, pontoons, boats), with advanced technology that significantly reduces operating costs.

The benefits provided by COC have several aspects:

• They keep the structures fixed, free of bivalve colonies.
• Avoid fouling on boats
• Reduce invasion advances
• Provides up-to-date stock control information

Nearly 20 years of experience in shellfish pest control provides us with the information, means and method to control the phenomenon in submerged infrastructure and structures.

Through the Observation and Control Centers, we will not only provide this information and experience, but will also promote concrete and effective actions to improve the processes leading to the effective control of invading limnological mollusks.

? Actions designed to make applications fit for each case.

? Coordinate work plans using the effective and harmless methods available.

? Unified database on the results of experiments and their extrapolation

? Observing the evolution of control processes as a whole.

The Observation and Control Center is an operational mechanism whose mission is to act directly on the causes and mitigate the effects of each of the problems presented and apply specific solutions to each one.

In the video that accompanies this article we can see how we can establish a control network in a river or sea port, in a simple, durable and economic way.

Available technology from Ecowater Technologies allows you to establish an immediate action and control network across the waterway network. The detection buoys designed by Ecowater make it possible to know the presence of L. fortunei in submerged structures in real time.

For more information, contact ECOWATER TECHNOLOGIES, S.L.