HOW TO: STOP DIESEL BUG

We help you prevent your boat’s fuel filters being clogged by the dreaded bug

How you treat diesel bug depends on the level of contamination. If it’s relatively minor, you may get away with dosing your fuel tanks with a proprietary diesel bug biocide. This kills the bug but does not remove it, so you’re relying on your existing filters to trap the residue without blocking them completely.

A better solution is to have the fuel professionally polished. This involves sucking the fuel out of your boat’s tank, spinning and filtering it to remove the bug, then pumping it back in. However, this still won’t get rid of built-up sediment in the tank. The only sure way of removing everything is to steam clean the tank through an inspection hatch (or have one cut into it). This can be a costly and time-consuming exercise.

The alternative is to fit a permanent fuel-purifying system to your boat, which is effectively a small built-in fuel-polishing system that cleans the fuel coming out of your tank before it reaches the filters.

For most of us, though, the easiest solution is to avoid getting the bug in the first place. There is no silver bullet, as there is always the risk of taking on contaminated fuel from an unreliable source, but here are some simple steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of getting the bug in your system and preventing it developing into a problem. Diesel bug is the colloquial name for the microbial growth that lives and feeds on diesel contaminated with water. In small quantities it’s relatively harmless, but a serious case will clog up your boat’s fuel filters faster than you can replace them. Diesel bug has become more prevalent since an EU directive was introduced, encouraging suppliers to add up to 7% biodiesel to their standard diesel. This is because biodiesel is hygroscopic, meaning it holds and attracts water.