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Table 3 summarises the facilities and fouling problems affected by L. fortunei. As early as the 1970s, fouling brought by L. fortunei appeared in cooling water pipes at one of the largest steel mills, the Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation, in Hubei, central China (Boltovskoy et al. 2015b; Xu et al. 2015b). Mussels clogged the pipes of water supply systems and caused expensive clean-up costs or plants shutdowns. In the 1980s, fouling problems became prevalent, which generally affected the industrial and water transfer facilities. Some water treatment plants, such as the water treatment plants in Suzhou, were even temporarily closed due to pipe clogging caused by L. fortunei (Luo et al. 2006; Boltovskoy et al. 2015b). Similarly, several water treatment plants have also been affected by L. fortunei biofouling problems, including mass attachment of mussels on water screening structures, blocks in strainers and pipes for water quality monitoring, accumulation of dead mussels in settling and flocculation chambers, and blockage of cooling system pipes for intake pumps, in the Yodo River system in Japan (Boltovskoy et al. 2015b). In addition, Oliveira et al. (2015) illustrated that hydropower and nuclear facilities associated with these dams had been experiencing fouling problems due to the mussel since around 2000.

Table 3

The facilities and fouling problems affected by Limnoperna fortunei (adapted from Boltovskoy et al. (2015b) and Ricciardi (1998))

Facilities	Fouling problems	Area/Location
Water and wastewater treatment facilities	Mass attachment of mussels on raw water screening structures Obstruction in strainers and pipes for water quality monitoring Accumulation of dead mussels in settling and flocculation chambers Blockage of cooling system pipes for intake pumps Heavy clogging of water intake grates	Jyr-Tan pumping station, Taiwan, China Suzhou, China Hanshin Water Supply Authority, Japan Lake Biwa-Yodo River system, Japan Osaka Prefectural Water Works Department, Japan AySA La Plata, Argentina
Municipal and industrial water supply systems	Colonize crevices, seams and joints in pipelines and conduits Reduce flow through narrow pipelines	/
Water transfer canals, pipelines, drainage systems, ship transit, and aqueducts	/	Shenzhen Dongjiang, China Xizhijiang River, China East River, China others
Steel mills	/	Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation, China Acindar, Argentina
Nuclear power plants	Mussel growth on intake screens and headrace channels Obstruction of bulwark pipes Causing gauge malfunctions and failures Blockage of electric generator cooling water pipes	Central Nuclear Embalse, Argentina Central Nuclear Atucha I, Argentina
Hydroelectric power plants	Clogging concrete underwater structures, valves, trash racks, gates, etc Increasing resistance to water flow Enhancing corrosion Clogging pipes Jamming mobile components Pose serious safety risks for the plant's personnel	Shisanling, Beijing, China Langyashan, Anhui, China Tianhuangping, Zhejiang, China Guangxu, Shenzhen, China Yahagi River, Japan Itaipu, Brazil/Paraguay Yacyretá, Argentina/Paraguay Salto Grande, Argentina/Uruguay Fitz Simon, Cassafousth, Reolín, Piedras Moras, San Roque, La Calera, Argentina Constitución, Uruguay Over 30 plants on the upper Paraná River, Paranaíba/Aporé/Claro/etc./Brazil
Thermal power plants	/	Central Puerto, Argentina
Refineries	/	Shell CAPSA (Dock Sud), ESSO (Campana), Argentina
Food processing plants	/	Tres Cruces, Argentina
Fish culture facilities	Clogging of net cages for pacu Clogging of fish farming components for sturgeon	Longtan Reservoir, Guangxi, China Itaipu Reservoir, Brazil/Paraguay Esturiones del Río Negro, Uruguay
Navigation dams	/	Brazil
Watercraft	/	Widespread in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
Agricultural irrigation systems	Mass attachment on intake screens, irrigation channels, balancing reservoirs, and balancing tanks Obstruction of strainers and pipeworks	Widespread in China and Japan
Stream level gauging components	/	Widespread in Japan
Fish diversion components	/	Widespread in Japan
Common raw water components	Clogging (living Limnoperna fortunei and/or dead, dislodged shell clusters), pressure loss, overheating Corrosion, erosion, abrasion Deterioration of metal, concrete and other materials Wear, like pump and turbine shaft seals, pumps and turbine wear rings, slurry pump seals Jamming mobile components Poor tightness, like stopping logs, valves, boat underwater rudder and propulsion components Sediment accumulation Accumulation of dead specimens Pollution, decomposition of dead mussels and mussel waste leads to the deterioration of water quality	Heat exchangers and condensers Pipes Strainers, filters, trash racks, grates, screens Penstocks Holding ponds, storage tanks, pump suction chambers, pump wells Water intake tunnels Sand filtration systems Pumps, nozzles, sprinklers Vent lines, air release valves Grit chambers, flocculators Submerged monitoring instrumentation, level gauges Pump and turbine shafts, seals, wear rings Boat engines (like cooling water ducts, filters pumps), submerged rudder, propulsion components

Facilities	Fouling problems	Area/Location
Water and wastewater treatment facilities	Mass attachment of mussels on raw water screening structures Obstruction in strainers and pipes for water quality monitoring Accumulation of dead mussels in settling and flocculation chambers Blockage of cooling system pipes for intake pumps Heavy clogging of water intake grates	Jyr-Tan pumping station, Taiwan, China Suzhou, China Hanshin Water Supply Authority, Japan Lake Biwa-Yodo River system, Japan Osaka Prefectural Water Works Department, Japan AySA La Plata, Argentina
Municipal and industrial water supply systems	Colonize crevices, seams and joints in pipelines and conduits Reduce flow through narrow pipelines	/
Water transfer canals, pipelines, drainage systems, ship transit, and aqueducts	/	Shenzhen Dongjiang, China Xizhijiang River, China East River, China others
Steel mills	/	Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation, China Acindar, Argentina
Nuclear power plants	Mussel growth on intake screens and headrace channels Obstruction of bulwark pipes Causing gauge malfunctions and failures Blockage of electric generator cooling water pipes	Central Nuclear Embalse, Argentina Central Nuclear Atucha I, Argentina
Hydroelectric power plants	Clogging concrete underwater structures, valves, trash racks, gates, etc Increasing resistance to water flow Enhancing corrosion Clogging pipes Jamming mobile components Pose serious safety risks for the plant's personnel	Shisanling, Beijing, China Langyashan, Anhui, China Tianhuangping, Zhejiang, China Guangxu, Shenzhen, China Yahagi River, Japan Itaipu, Brazil/Paraguay Yacyretá, Argentina/Paraguay Salto Grande, Argentina/Uruguay Fitz Simon, Cassafousth, Reolín, Piedras Moras, San Roque, La Calera, Argentina Constitución, Uruguay Over 30 plants on the upper Paraná River, Paranaíba/Aporé/Claro/etc./Brazil
Thermal power plants	/	Central Puerto, Argentina
Refineries	/	Shell CAPSA (Dock Sud), ESSO (Campana), Argentina
Food processing plants	/	Tres Cruces, Argentina
Fish culture facilities	Clogging of net cages for pacu Clogging of fish farming components for sturgeon	Longtan Reservoir, Guangxi, China Itaipu Reservoir, Brazil/Paraguay Esturiones del Río Negro, Uruguay
Navigation dams	/	Brazil
Watercraft	/	Widespread in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
Agricultural irrigation systems	Mass attachment on intake screens, irrigation channels, balancing reservoirs, and balancing tanks Obstruction of strainers and pipeworks	Widespread in China and Japan
Stream level gauging components	/	Widespread in Japan
Fish diversion components	/	Widespread in Japan
Common raw water components	Clogging (living Limnoperna fortunei and/or dead, dislodged shell clusters), pressure loss, overheating Corrosion, erosion, abrasion Deterioration of metal, concrete and other materials Wear, like pump and turbine shaft seals, pumps and turbine wear rings, slurry pump seals Jamming mobile components Poor tightness, like stopping logs, valves, boat underwater rudder and propulsion components Sediment accumulation Accumulation of dead specimens Pollution, decomposition of dead mussels and mussel waste leads to the deterioration of water quality	Heat exchangers and condensers Pipes Strainers, filters, trash racks, grates, screens Penstocks Holding ponds, storage tanks, pump suction chambers, pump wells Water intake tunnels Sand filtration systems Pumps, nozzles, sprinklers Vent lines, air release valves Grit chambers, flocculators Submerged monitoring instrumentation, level gauges Pump and turbine shafts, seals, wear rings Boat engines (like cooling water ducts, filters pumps), submerged rudder, propulsion components

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