Strange bilge water

[texastom]

Peggy, I'm writing you because you seem to have a lot of experience in boat odors and other stange discharges form the bowels of boats. I have a 1996 Hunter 37.5 and recently I have noticed a strange black substance in the bilge water. It does not appear to be oil but it is heavier than water. I does have an unpleasant smell however. I mentioned my boat because on this model the engine bilge does not drain into the main bilge so oil from the engine can not enter the main bilge. The only drainage into the main bilge is from the refrigerator, the cutlass drip and maybe the air conditioners condensation. It is staining the bigle black. Can't figure out what it is, any ideas? By the way, read your book twice, very helpful and should be included with every new boat purchase.

 

[Peggie Hall/HeadMistress]

Molds, fungi and bacteria

The drainage from your fridge is full of bacteria...so is the sea water from your prop shaft stuffing box...and the ac condensate doesn't help either. If the shower also drains into the bilge that's more bacteria, soap scum, body oils etc. So what you're seeing is are the bacteria colonies, molds and fungi that make up a "primordial soup" that develops when bilge water sits and stagnates. Iow, your bilge has become a stagnant swamp...and smells like one.The immediate cure: clean your bilge with a strong solution of detergent and water, followed by THOROUGHLY flushing out all the dirty water. Then mop up (shop vac, sponges, whatever) all the water the bilge pumps leave behind...and leave all hatches open for at least 24 hours to let your bilges dry out.The longterm solution: install sumps and sump pumps to catch your fridge and ac drainage. There's not much you can do about the stuffing box "deposits"...you'll just have to give your bilge the same thorough cleaning once or twice a year.

 

[texastom]

That's what I thought

Thanks Peggy, I suspected that it was bacteria scum. I cleaned the bilge about a month ago with bilge cleaner and then shopvaced it pretty much dry but when I checked it this weekend it was back to the scum. I have a sump in the shower but the faucet is broke so we haven't used it yet(not sure where that water goes). I cleaned the bilge this weekend with bilge cleaner again and then sprayed it with a product my sanitation service gave me which is called "Sea Clean". Is there anything else I need to use to remove the black stains and insure the bacteria is killed?