The bilge suction system, manufactured according to ISO 15083 regulations, consists of three 12V diving electropumps, installed in a suitable position for the proper draining of bilges, located as follows:

The suctions of the pumps are equipped with plastic net strainers, whose purpose is to prevent the penetration inside the circuit of foreign bodies, which may damage the pump or cause pipe clogging.

The water sucked from the bilges is sent to the overboard drains located on the yacht’s sides. The diving pumps are directly connected to a battery, and thus guarantee bilge drain at any time.

Therefore, it is not necessary to activate the services battery breaker. In order to make them work, it is necessary to activate the relevant magneto-thermals located on the secondary electrical panel in the technical room.

It is possible to evacuate water from the bilges where the pumps are located either in automatic or manual mode.
The pumps’ activation, in automatic mode, is controlled by floater switches (1) installed in the bilge, which activate the pumps when they detect a too high level of waters. In order to manually start the pumps, press the relevant push-buttons located on the helm position, making sure that the magneto-thermal switches are connected.

The upper floats (2) control the activation of the “Acquallarm” alarm siren which, in the event of flooding, signals a high water level in the bilge.
The submergible bilge pumps are connected directly to the service batteries and can be operated also when the battery breaker is set to OFF, thus ensuring water evacuation even when the yacht is unattended, with the circuit breakers in the electrical panel switched ON.

The bilge high water level alarm siren, located in the helm position, is directly connected to the service batteries: therefore, for its operation, it is necessary to activate the special magneto-thermal switch located on the technical room electrical panel.

CAUTION

The system total capacity is not designed for yacht draining in case of leaks.

CAUTION

In case of leaks in the engine room, it is possible to suck huge quantities of water from the engine room bilge through the cooling system pumps of each engine.

ENVIRONMENT

Any oil or fuel in the bilge must be collected and stowed.
It is forbidden to discharge bilge water mixed with oil or fuel into the sea, because this causes serious pollution.
During maintenance operations in the engine room, it is compulsory to disconnect the magneto-thermal switches of the bilge pumps’ automatic suction system, thus preventing the accidental spillage of liquids and, consequently, sea water pollution.

CAUTION

Avoid leaving rags or other residues which could clog the suction inlets of the pumps, thus causing serious damage to them, even though the inlets are protected by filtering nets.

CAUTION

Check all bilge pump operation at regular intervals. Clean the pump intakes. The hull valves installed in the bow and stern peak walls must be held closed; they must be open only to drain the water from the main bilge.

In case of malfunction of the automatic bilge pumps you can use the manual pump.

5.5 BILGE SYSTEM