Bilge pumps are essential for a boat, and it keeps the water in the bilge of the boat away. Generally, bilge pumps are crucial for big boats or ships. But, do you need a bilge pump for your boat?
You need a bilge pump for your boat because you might not know when the water may get into your boat. When the water gets in, you need to get rid of the water. Suppose if a vast quantity of water comes into the boat, then you may not be able to it manually. So, you need a bilge pump for your boat.
The essential purpose of the bilge pump is to remove the water out from the bilge of the boat if the water gets into the bilge. You can do that with a bucket and hand pump, or you can do it automatically with bilge pumps. It all depends on you, whether you need a bilge pump to remove the water or not.
You might think that you can manage to remove the water out of the boat by using a small bucket or hand pump if water gets into your bilge of the boat. All the time, it may not be the same. Meaning if the water quantity is less, then you can do that quickly. Otherwise, it may become tough to remove all the water out of your boat. It is good to have a bilge pump on your boat.
Still, many people won’t install bilge pumps on their boats, thinking of all those things. But, the situation may not be the same all the time. If you hit any rock while driving the boat and if the water gets inside, then you need to remove the water out from the boat as well as keep the boat moving in the water to get near shore. It is tough to do both things at the same time.
By having a bilge pump on your boat, you can concentrate on driving the boat rather than doing both the things at the same time. A one-inch hole below the waterline of the boat will flow the water into your boat at 3000 liters per hour (around 8000 gallons of water). Then, on your own, you may not be able to remove the water out of the bilge quickly.
Benefits of having a bilge pump on your boat
- Bilge pump pumps all the water out of your boat quickly if it detects any water in the bilge.
- You don’t need to remove the water out of the boat manually by using a hand pump or a bucket.
- Even if you are not aware of the presence of the water in the bilge, it will remove the water out of the boat if it is an automatic bilge pump.
It pumps the water out of the bilge of the boat very quickly than removing the water manually. It saves you a lot of time by removing the water manually. And the automatic bilge pumps will turn on automatically if it detects a certain amount of water level in the bilge of the boat.
Drawbacks of having a bilge pump on your boat
- Bilge pumps will often fail. So, you need to keep an eye on them regularly.
- You can’t increase the flow rate of the water that is pumping out of the boat by a bilge pump. Meaning if you bought a bilge pump of 1000 gph (gallons per hour), it could only remove the water out from the bilge at 1000 gph, it can’t go beyond 1000 gph.
That is the main drawback of a bilge pump; it often fails. You need to keep an eye on them regularly or check them before starting your trip. And if you want to increase the gph, then you need to buy the next level one, and you can’t improve it by doing some repairs to the bilge pump.
Do all boats need a bilge pump?
All boats don’t need bilge pumps. For a small boat (maybe less than 15 feet) don’t need to have one, you can manage with a hand pump, as long as you go for boating in calm waters. For a big boat, the bilge pump is essential, and you need something big to remove the water out of the bilge.
If water gets into the bilge of your boat and if the water quantity is less, you can use a hand pump. Otherwise, you need a bilge pump to remove the water.
If you go boating in rough weather or seas or oceans, then you better install one bilge pump in your boat. If it rains, then it may become a bit hard to remove the water from the bilge of the boat manually. It is good to have a bilge pump on your boat regardless of the boat type (for all motorized boats).
That doesn’t mean that all types of boats need to have a bilge pump. Whether you need a bilge pump for your boat or not depends on the nature of the vessel you have (meaning, your boat is small or big), and where you will go for boating (meaning in a sea or lake). Whether you need a bilge pump or not depends on those essential factors.
Again, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to have a bilge pump if you are using a small boat or boating in a small lake or pond. Whether you need a bilge pump or not depends on the weather as well. If you go boating in rough seas or rough waters, then in those conditions, the bilge pump is essential for your boat.
A one-inch hole below the waterline of the boat will flow the water into your vessel at 3000 liters per hour (around 8000 gallons of water). Then, on your own, you may not be able to remove the water out of the bilge quickly. So, it is good to have a bilge pump on your boat regardless of the boat size, at least for a backup.
For small boats such as non-motorized boats (kayaks, canoes, dinghy) or boats less than 15 feet in length (around), probably you don’t need to install a bilge pump on your boat (still, you can do that if you want). For kayaks or canoes or any small boats, you can use handpumps to remove the water out of the bilge of the boat.
Still, some people install a small bilge pump in a kayak. Mostly you don’t need one for a kayak. It is good to have a bilge pump for all motorized boats, except for a dingy because you can use a hand pump to remove the water in a dinghy.
For big boats above 15 feet in length, such as an aluminum fishing boat, or any motorized boats, etc. need a bilge pump. Still, you can use a hand pump or a small bucket to remove the water out of the boat. But, if the water quantity is vast, and if you are alone in the boat, then you may not be able to do it on your own.
Regardless of the boat length, sometimes you may need a bilge pump, if you stuck in the rain or hit any rock or due to any leaking, then water can get into your bilge quickly, and you need to remove them out of the boat, and as well as keep the boat moving near to shore. In case of any damage to the hull or the rain, you need something more powerful to remove the water out of the boat quickly.
What happens if you don’t have a bilge pump on your boat?
If you don’t have a bilge pump in your boat, then you may not be able to remove the water present in the bilge of the boat quickly. If you use a hand pump or bucket to remove water instead of using a bilge pump, then it may take a long time to remove all the water in the boat or bilge.
It is all about time, and you need to remove the water quickly in the bilge not to sink your boat. If you use a bilge pump, then you can remove the water faster. Otherwise, if you don’t use the bilge pump, then you may not be able to remove the water in the bilge quickly.
Bottom line
Mostly, the people who go boating in calm waters don’t need to have a bilge pump. Still, it is good to have a bilge pump on your boat, at least for a backup if anything goes wrong. By having a bilge pump in your boat, you can remove the water in the bilge quickly than with a hand pump.
