What is the purpose of the separate shower sump?

[Mike Dyslin]

What is the purpose of draining the shower water into a separate container in the bilge with a separate sump pump?  Why not drain directly into the bilge and let the bilge pump pump it out?  My shower sump fails frequently, agitating the float switch often clears the problem, but the pump has failed several times.

Thanks,

Mike

[william beveridge]

Mike - you sort of answered your own question.  Imagine the bilge pump encountering the same issue, and leaving your boat subject to flooding.  The sump is there to keep the bilge from getting the soap scum, hair and anything else that made its way into that system from clogging the emergency bilge pump, and keeping these from contributing to bad cabin odors. 

A friend of mine with a Bene' has hers right into the bilge and won't use the shower. 

Bill Beveridge

Perfectly Imperfect, 146

Middle River, MD

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[George Southern]

Mike, to add to Bill Beveridge’s reply, and since a picture is worth 1000 words, here is what Jeff Hare’s bilge looks like (taken from his earlier posting). And his build is #17! No way he would tolerate shower residue! I recently replaced the shower pump on Blessing #101 after it quit completely. Not surprising, since the toilet salt water pump also quit completely recently and the freshwater pump has quit completely once since I owned it and at least once before that.  Oh, I forgot the bilge pump, which also had to be replaced. The original bilge pump used an electronic sensor for operation, which at one point caused it to run continuously and run down my battery. So I also installed a swing arm sensor and have had no more problem. But I saw no need to replace the shower pump with the same size. Instead I purchased a smaller Rule Mate 500 from Amazon for $71. It does use an electronic sensor, but so far it has worked fine.

George Southern 

Blessing #101 (blue hull)

[Pat]

I’ve found that placing a “pool horse tail scrubber” in the shower pan drain prevents debris from accumulating in the sump pump pan. I cut the scrubber in half and insert one end into the drain (ensure there’s a small opening in the scrubber —trim as needed to fit your drain size). The scrubber is too large to be sucked into the pipe, so it stays in place.

While the shower will drain a bit slower, cleanup is quick and easy, and you avoid clogging the bilge pump. After a few showers, simply discard the used scrubber and replace it with a new one.  I’ve tried other methods, like using a rubber band and cheesecloth on a previous boat, but they were messier to clean. 

A 12-pack on Amazon costs about $9.99 and provides 24 strainers. They store easily—vacuum-packing a couple at a time reduces them to a sliver, and they expand instantly when opened. (Important point  - if you don't cut it in half, the water drainage is very, very slow.)

Patty Manhire;  Gypsea 174.

[david hogan]

That bilge looks super clean.

Does your A/C drain into it ?

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