BSS endorses Bilgeaway
IN A MOVE that could encourage greater use of bilge filters the Boat Safety Scheme examiners will now automatically accept Bilgeaway filters.
It is accepted these filters reduce inland waterway pollution and meet its strict hydrocarbon content requirements, and so no longer ask boaters for proof.
Successfully demonstrated
In the past, boaters have been required to provide evidence their bilge filters comply with the Scheme’s ‘less than five parts per million hydrocarbon content’ criteria, but as Bilgeaway designers have successfully demonstrated their performance capability, a ‘paper trail’ is no longer necessary. (The illustration is the 10 inch BilgeAway filter.)
Section nine of the BSS certification process asks ‘does the bilge pumping system minimise the risk of avoidable pollution?’ It is hoped this endorsement will make life easier for examiners and boat owners who are required to have a bilge filter if their bilge pump draws from an area under the engine/gearbox.
Only two approved
This approval however only applies to Bilgeaway and one other filter, Wavestream, and people with alternative models will still need to evidence compliance.
Bilgeaway sales director, Damien Forman, comments:
“I’m delighted the BSS has reviewed its procedures but frustrated that filters are yet to be mandatory on boats. At least this may go some way in increasing take-up and making them more widely acceptable.
“Bilgeaway has the highest environmental credentials; other filters’ contents will continue to harm the environment when they’re taken to landfill, shifting the problem from water to land.”
Non-toxic solution
Described as the only truly environmentally-friendly bilge filter, Bilgeaway uses a non-toxic solution to extract hydrocarbon contaminants (petrol, diesel, engine oil etc) from water and render them non-reactive, leaving decontaminated contents in a cartridge which can be disposed of.
Bilgeaway launched its 10” and 20” filters in January 2019 and they are stocked by ABC Marinas and Lakeland Leisure. In March this year Collingwood Boats agreed to fit the filter into all its narrowbeam and widebeam vessels, and in April the team behind Bilgeaway—River Canal Rescue—added a smaller midi filter to its range.