Preventive Engine Maintenance & Bilge Care
Preventive Engine Maintenance
- The best way to prevent oil discharges from the bilge is to keep engines well-tuned and operating at peak efficiency.
- Choose Coast-Guard approved alcohol resistant fuel lines.
- Inspect fuel lines, valves, oil seals, gaskets and all connections for leaks and deterioration. When replacing hoses, new hose sections should be the right length to prevent damage and leaks.
- Install drip pans under all equipment that might leak.
- Keep a fresh oil-absorbing pad properly secured in the bilge, in the engine compartment, and in a drip pan beneath the engine. Use Earth911 to dispose of absorbent pads.
- Avoid using solvents or toxic chemicals to clean engine parts. Use mechanical means (such as hand-scraping caked oil off equipment) or use less toxic solvents (water-based). Don’t let solvents run into the bilge.
- Transfer and remove fluids with care, using funnels, pumps and absorbents to eliminate drips and spills and to keep the bilge area clean.
Bilge Care
- Don’t use soaps and detergents to clean oil or fuel. Soaps emulsify oil, breaking it into invisible droplets that disperse through the water. Adding detergents is illegal and bad for the environment.
- To prevent oil discharge from the automatic bilge pump, use oil absorbents safely secured in the bilge (to prevent clogging the bilge pump or its sensor).
- For a large oily mess in the bilge, use a steam cleaning service.
- Use a bilge pump-out facility to pump oil or oily water out of the bilge. Use Earth911 to find bilge pump-out facilities.
