Does A Bilge Pump Produce Carbon Monoxide?

Author : Efrain E. Silva

Ooh, scary topic to think about, am I wrong? I hope not. But I think it is one we ought to give more thought to as safe boat operators that we are ( or at least ought to be ) . Here is the fact of the matter : Carbon Monoxide is what many like to call the silent killer, and it can easily creep into any home, garage, car, boat, airplane or other means it chooses, taking no victims and showing no clemency. You can breathe it in, when certain amounts of carbon - based fuels burn on ( and you have nowhere else to turn or no other option but to breathe it right in ) . It is a serious silent assassin that has taken so many innocent lives all around the world, and fire fighters are likely some of the few people on the planet who know just how serious a foe it is ( as they are daily reminded of this very fact, every time they put on that uniform and go off to their job ) .

Now, then, I would like to say that oil or even propane gas can be the trigger fuel that can burn here and get the whole deadly mess started. But that is not all —- even regular gas station gasoline, or charcoal, when not rightly taken into account or checked, can burn incorrectly and cross - burn into Carbon Monoxide. Either way, it can kill you and it can do so big time, so it is no laughing sort of matter ; and in my usual posts, I tend to typically throw in a funny, quick and witty little blurb here and there just to take the edge…but this time, since it is such a serious matter I am talking to you about, I prefer to abstain in full. Most of the incidents of this deadly killer inhalant will likely tend to occur right in the boat’s cabin or any other area that has been closed off, which makes sense based on what I have showed you, in which the trapped Carbon Monoxide would become the only thing you breathe in ( without even knowing the seriousness of what you are breathing in, until it is too late, my friend, and it has taken your life ) . This also tends to happen SO much more frequently on older boats or those that have not been manned or checked as frequently ( heck, even those that never get to see any routine maintenance at all, what a shame ) .

And Carbon Monoxide can be created in any boat’s gas engine, water heater, space heater, bilge pump, cooking range or just about any other enclosed, trapped area or item for that matter. Which is why we have to be super careful to avoid cross - contact and potentially sparking such an incidence from even happening.

It is a matter of life and death. Know that you can prevent death by being careful. You can encourage life. Learn more on Carbon Monoxide and bilge pump deaths / incidents online.