These approaches could be used alone or together to achieve adequate treatment. The technologies of greatest interest are heat, ultraviolet radiation, filtration, cyclonic separation, ozonation, and biocides. The next generation of ballast management in the United States will likely incorporate some or all of these options. Which technologies gain prominence is of less importance than the integrity of the overall system of coastal protection from ballast-mediated invasions. This requirement almost requires that treatment technology replace to a large extent ballast exchange as the primary approach to ballast management.
Invasive species are also capricious.
The system should accommodate fluctuations and changes in both the nature and patterns of shipping and the nature and patterns of invasions. The system also should include a diverse enough set of treatment alternatives so that operators can maximize efficiencies given the particulars of their ships and voyage patterns. Some treatments, such as forms of heat treatment, may be effective only on ships engaged in lengthy and tropical voyage patterns, for these ships the method may prove the least costly, yet the same method would be insufficient for ships on other types of voyages. This characteristic will prevent the system from failing due to non-use. Given today's level of sophistication in pollution prevention technology, the system can be expected to actually solve environmental problems rather than replace one with another.