Found! Successful Bilge Water/Oil Separator

[tkeithlu]

I run an old 4-53 Detroit Diesel that leaks oil so badly that by tradition you add oil when it STOPS leaking. Water drains into my bilge as well. It's been a five year struggle to separate the two for disposal, usually meaning pouring a lot of water into the waste oil tank at a marina. I pump to a separator tank, but too much oil entrains in the water not to attract the USCG. The tiniest bit of oil makes a big sheen, as I'm sure we all know.

I have finally found the soluton. The PIG Oily Water Filter, made for HazMat scene clean up, holds a gallon of entrained oil and puts out water that leaves no sheen whatever. It costs $113 and is disposible, but when I fill this one I'm going to convert to the five gallon size, at $229, which can be refilled for $29. The connections are 3/4" garden hose. The site is

https://www.newpig.com/pig-oily-wate...JooaAt4s8P8HAQ

They have other options that might interest someone with a different oil/water problem.

[Davidhoy]

I was just looking at stuff like this yesterday. Do you get enough flow through the PIG that you could connect a lower-volume bilge pump directly to the filter, and then lead the outlet overboard? I was thinking of a low-volume bilge pump as low as possible in the bilge, with a pair of high-volume de-watering pumps mounted a few inches higher. This would allow the small pump to handle most of water in the bilge, after running it through the separator, but still have the larger de-watering pumps for emergencies.

-David

[tkeithlu]

That is very similar to what I have done, although my pump leading to the separator tank and from there to the Pig are manual. Yes, you can get plenty of flow through the Pig. The one important point I think is to send water that has entrained oil, not oil itself, to the Pig, since it will stop only one gallon of oil. The water I send it has no visible oil, but leaves a sheen if sent over the side.