Oxygen Deprivation

For facilities where one intake may be periodically shut down, oxygen deprivation poses a viable means of control. Aside from physically capping the pipeline to produce an oxygen-deprived environment, oxygen scavenging chemicals may also be added to the water to create this effect. These chemicals include sodium-meta-bisulfite and hydrogen sulfide gas. Ontario Hydro has investigated the use of a chemical, hydrazine, to remove oxygen and also investigated its possible toxicity to the zebra mussel (Spencer 1992). More extensive information on the use of oxygen deprivation as a control method is contained in EPRI (1992).

Although zebra mussels generally expire within 6 days (Mikheev 1986), they are able to tolerate oxygen deprivation for up to 2 weeks, providing the ambient temperatures are low enough. See the Life History and Biology section of this CD for more information on the zebra mussel's need for and use of oxygen.

One of the drawbacks and precautions of the use of oxygen deprivation as a viable control method is the increase in corrosion and pitting of surfaces. This may occur in either of two forms:

• The lack of oxygen may increase the presence of a sulfate-reducing bacteria. This bacteria is the cause of microbially induced corrosion (Claudi and Mackie 1994).
• The release of sodium-meta-bisulfite or hydrogen sulfide gas into the water creates acidity, which in turn increases corrosion.

Management and Control Contents

Management and Control Options

Reactive Control Methods