For as long as I can remember, boaters have sought to keep their boat’s bilges as dry as possible. This only makes sense, as carrying so-called “casual water” in the bilge can lead to increased corrosion and increased mold and mildew formation. It also just plain bothers boaters.
Now, it must be said that a completely dry bilge is a difficult thing to attain. Even if the hull, deck and cockpit penetrations are watertight, hot sun and cooler water ensures condensation will form inside a boat floating in water. Pumps, and the switches that operate them usually require, at least some height above the very bottom. Even with a flush-mounted pump, the water in the discharge hose requires more water behind it to push it out. Once the bilge is pumped “dry,” the water in the hose runs back into the bilge. For all of these reasons, in different measures depending upon the specific boat, keeping a bone-dry bilge is often hard to achieve.
The people at Siphon Dry beg to differ. This new company offers a bilge drainage system—not a replacement or substitute for a bilge pump, mind you—that is said to maintain a dry bilge. The company’s product requires no electricity and works via the age-old principle of a siphon. From the Siphon Dry website:
Siphon Dry utilizes the power of Bernoulli’s Principle through an. Innovative design, creating a passive system that consists of a bilge accumulator, a connecting tube, and a siphon generator. This unique system operates without the need for constant monitoring or manual intervention.
Read Next: How to Install an Automatic Bilge Pump
Essentially, if the boat is underway, Siphon Dry is said to go to work. It is available in both through-hull and transom-mount form factors. American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) approval is pending and retail sales are believed to be soon forthcoming.
Siphon Dry is an interesting product that addresses a problem boaters have griped about forever. We look forward to testing it on the water when we can. Until then, more information is available at the Siphon Dry website.
