Frequently Asked Questions

FRE

What exactly is bilge water?  Bilge water is the collective term for a cocktail of wastewater, oil and fluids from operational sources such as technical rooms, propulsion systems and on board machinery. Bilge water can be a mixture of water, fuel oil, lube oil, hydraulic oil, detergents, oil additives, chemicals, dust, soot and other substances. This mixture is normally collected in a bilge water tank.

Is there Bilgewater legislations? Current MARPOL legislation stipulates that separated bilge water containing 15 ppm or below oil in water can be discharged into international waters. Some national, regional and local authorities, especially those governing sensitive waters, have more stringent regulations. In the United States and in the Baltic and North Seas, for instance, discharge of separated bilge water is only permitted at least 12 nautical miles from shore.

Who certifies oil water separators for discharge? The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Resolution MEPC.107 (49) specifies a test procedure for bilge water separators and the removal of stable emulsions from bilge water in addition to the removal of oil. Adopted in July 2003, this resolution became effective on 1 January 2005 and applies to all vessels with new installations. Future legislation is expected to be even more stringent, requiring levels of oil in water to be further reduced to five ppm for discharge at sea, and to zero ppm in sensitive waters.

Does the Crystal Sea meet Coast Guard regulations for overboard discharge?  Definitely. The Crystal sea separator meets IMO/MEPC. 107 (49) and USCG regulations. Not only do we meet Coast Guard regulations but we exceed it by more than 90%. We also meet American Bureau of Shipping standards as well.

Can you guarantee 15ppm overboard discharge even with emulsified oil?  Absolutely! The term emulsion means "the mixture of two un-blendable mixtures." Our Crystal Sea separates emulsified oil with ease and we guarantee 15ppm.

 What savings can I expect from switching to Crystal Sea?  A customer can expect 90 % savings and even more compared with expensive microbial-micro pathogens/organism based OWS systems. There is no need for the crew to handle potentially dangerous mutating microbes. Microbes are known to frequently mutate. Our units have no internal moving parts, no mutating microbes, in most cases don't need any filters, consume very little electricity and run for years without problems.... No ship operators that we spoke to feels comfortable with microbes living in their bilge or the potential risks associated.  According to Canadian microbiologists, microbes always mutate into several different strains.

Do you use dangerous microbes, chemicals, or other hazardous materials?  Absolutely not! We use the laws of physics and our unique patent is the only patent in the world capable of achieving this level of separation without filters. Talk about inexpensive.

Does the Crystal Sea Separator need constant monitoring? No. Our system is completely fully automated and has virtually no internal moving parts, low maintenance, and is trouble free.

Will your system need to slow down in very concentrated bilges? Will costs go up?  No, our system is not variable speed no matter how much oil needs to be separated. There is no need for an operator to be adjusting speeds depending on oil levels in the bilge. Our separators are so effective that even under extreme circumstances the first 5 stages of our process reduce the impurities to 2 ppm without the sixth filtering stage.