Pumpout Evolution: The Latest Trends in Pump Technology

The evolution of the pumpout started with a hand cart that had a pump, moved into stationary pumpouts attached to docks, then to a pump in every slip and on-demand pumpout boats. This is where the evolution of pumps ends, or does it?

The pumps, peristaltic, vacuum and diaphragm have not changed in original design, other than being tweaked to handle more use while requiring less maintenance. Where a pump used to be visited a handful of times a day, now environmentally conscious boaters, in bigger boats, are lining up to use a pump, increasing the loads that a pump needs to handle. Pump manufacturers have kept up, building more robust components that work at 100 percent capacity and last well-over their typical 10-year warranties.

“Nobody wants to work on pumps that do what these do, so if the system is easy to maintain and operate, the dockhands won’t have to get their hands dirty as often and may be more likely to do the things needed to keep the system running well,” said Daryl Smith of Edson Corporation.

Simplify Maintenance

According to Smith, in looking at the future of pumpouts, Edson looks first at making pumpouts as convenient and easy to use as possible, so boaters won’t hesitate to use one, and secondly, to simplify maintenance for the marina.

To address convenience and ease of maintenance, pump manufacturers have looked past the pump itself to develop “smart” technology for the controls and monitoring of pumps.

Andrew Bleier, senior vice president of Keco, Inc. U.S.A., said, “We perfected the pump so now we’re perfecting the controls to make them interface with the modern marina.” For more on mobile technology and automation at the pumpout, see the sidebar on page 18.

Data Collection

Flow meters are an important part of pump technology. The data is important from a federal perspective as many, if not most pumps, are funded through the federal Clean Vessel Act program. Knowing how much waste federal dollars have kept out of the waterways is valuable. But, according to Bleier, existing flow meters are not only expensive, running anywhere from $2,500 to $6,000, but they are not overly accurate. He explained that measuring raw sewage or sewage that has air mixed with it, or sewage that is released in surges, does not give a true picture of how many gallons are pumped per minute.

To compensate for the imperfection in flow meters, manufacturers have looked at how to use the data from meters to incorporate average flow calculations into their standard monitoring systems.  Bleier said Keco tested how often a pump ran versus what came out of it to develop an algorithm that their monitor now uses to calculate gallons per minute. With existing monitors incorporating flow meter measurement, the original flow meters may disappear.

Pumpout Boat Trends

While the overall concept of a stationary pumpout unit has not changed, there has been an increase in popularity of pumpout boats.

As with regular pumpouts, pumpout boats come with many technologic options such as monitoring devices, GPS, and tracking devices for speed, tank volume stored, gallons per minute pumped and more. In addition, communities or marinas that buy the boats are asking for more customized vessels, such as with pilot houses, T-tops, graphics and color packages.

Richard Audette Jr. of Marine Boatbuilders Company envisions more private ownership of pumpout boats much like land-based “honey wagons.”

“I see more private individuals getting into the business. They can go pumpout a boat during the week when the owner is at his job, and then the boat will be ready to go on the weekend. The owner never has to get his own hands dirty so it’s a more user-friendly approach,” said Audette.

Overall, the average pumpout boat is about 23 feet with a 420-gallon holding tank, which Audette said is near the ideal combination for ease of maneuverability and maximum storage without affecting the boat’s performance.