Boating Safety Equipment, the Bilge Pump

Created during the early 16th century, the bilge pump has traditionally been utilized on boats and ships to remove bilge water, which is termed as water that collects in the bilge of a ship, the lowest compartment of the vessel. Today, with bigger, faster and more expensive boats many boat and yacht owners rely on many safety features such as dynamic positioning systems, gps and multiple bilge pumps. As the boat is being propelled forward, bilge water can move from the middle section of the boat toward the rear and can leave the stern with a lot of water if an extra bilge pump is not installed. The weight of the excess water can lead to an increase in fuel consumption which is another great reason to install an extra bilge pump in this area of your yacht.

For a medium-sized boat, a pump with a capacity of 1500 to 2000 gallons per hour is recommended. If the architecture of the boat leads to additional areas where water could gather, then you should obviously consider installing additional bilge pumps for those areas. Basically, the bigger the yacht or boat, the more bilge pumps you will need. A luxury superyacht like Remember When would obviously need more bilge pumps than a small boat. Most bilge pumps are designed to pump automatically as the water reaches the level of the float switch. You can also install a light indicator in the dashboard console of your yacht that will notify you when your pump is engaged.

With the help of the light indicator, you’ll have an understanding of how often your bilge pump is prompted to remove excess water. This is an excellent maritime safety and maintenance tool for yacht owners; if the bilge pump is triggered to pump excess water more often than usual could mean that something is not working properly and causing the water level to rise more frequently than usual.

For extra safety and security, you can also install a back-up pump with a much higher capacity of 3000 to 3500 gallons per minute and mount its float switch higher than the first pump's switch. This set up allows the backup pump to engage if the primary fails or cannot keep up with the rate of water increase. Safety is a key consideration in yacht ownership and a back-up pump adds another level of security and we all know preparation is the key to safety.