Always check your fuel! Sumped water for the first time.

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noahf

Filing Flight Plan
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noahf
After around 100 flights, always sumping to check the fuel and never finding anything, yesterday was the day. The left wing: nothing. The right wing: water at three sump points.

See photos attached. At first it almost looked like air bubbles, but it quickly became clear (no pun intended) that there was water at several sumps.

Using the GATS jar for the first time with water, I carefully poured the fuel back into the tank. And... it seemed that some of the water made it through the (new/undamaged in appearance) filter. Lesson learned from talking with someone from the flight club later -- when water is mixed in, dump it. Although I always do the eco friendly thing, given how rare this is it sounds like good policy to dump when water is mixed-in. Any feedback?

PS. Didn't fly after pouring the fuel back in, to let the water settle + be sump-able later.
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Whats more "eco-friendly", a little gas on the ramp or a burning pile of wreckage off airport somewhere? Good grief!

Did you consider that someone might try to fly that plane later?
 
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Any theory for how you got water in one tank but not the other?

Leaky gas cap, maybe?
 
YOU sumped it for the first time. Since you poured water back into the tanks, someone else gets to sump it for a second time. Pretty cool!
 
Woah. Easy there internet.

After pouring the fuel back in (via GATS jar) I re-sumped the tanks several times over a long period, but it seemed that the h2o was very slow to make it back to the sump points. (1) to be cautious, I decided not to fly. (2) I reported the h2o in the tank as an observation, visible to the next pilot, so that they would know.

Our club and airport have strict rules against dumping, and the only instruction was the club's (no dumping) and the GATS jar (pour through filter back into tank). Anyway, lesson learned for me on when to make an exception, and I hope sharing this helps the next person in this situation.
 
To be fair to OP, the instructions that come with the GATTs say the filter will filter out water.

However, I have tried it (by pouring it into a mason jar, not back into the tank :eek2:), and it doesn't really work.
 
In FL, I was slumping after a fill up. Line boy came out and watched me. I went in to pee for the last time and asked what was up. He said fuel dumpers get reported to DOT! I was like WTF! Big fines he said.
 
Why would a club have rules about dumping bad fuel? Just seems overly intrusive.

I'm dumping that crap if it's me.
 
I agree with others: the right gas cap needs attention. The first plane I flew regularly when I started taking lessons had this problem, and I found water in sumped fuel regularly, though it was both tanks. Because of that and many other maintenance squawks, I switched flight schools.

I also agree that dumping small amounts of fuel on a concrete ramp is likely a trivial assault on the environment. I'm sure larger accidental spills at the pump happen regularly - not to mention lead in emissions from our engines. Still... the law is the law. Fortunately I've never fueled at an airport where that has been an issue.
 
Unit74 said:
In FL, I was slumping after a fill up. Line boy came out and watched me. I went in to pee for the last time and asked what was up. He said fuel dumpers get reported to DOT! I was like WTF! Big fines he said.
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So is pulling fuel strainer allowed?
 
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Also, obligatory reading:

http://www.sumpthis.com/cessna150andcessna152tanktest/cessna150tanktestimages1024x768.htm
 
azure said:
I also agree that dumping small amounts of fuel on a concrete ramp is likely a trivial assault on the environment. I'm sure larger accidental spills at the pump happen regularly - not to mention lead in emissions from our engines.
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Or the military dumping thousands of pounds each flight to make landing weight.
 
You found a unsafe condition and passed it along.

I'm all for not putting gas in the ground, as someone who lives on the water and also has a well, I'm sensitive to it, but there are other places you could have put the fuel, all options, including the worst option of the ground, but back in the tank shouldn't have been a option at all.
 
I agree that small amount of fuel would likely not adversely affect the environment, but if the airport has rules about not dumping the sample, then the sample should not be dumped. Another thing to pay careful attention to is the color of the sample. I have sumped an airplane in the past and saw no bubbles or differentiation, but the color was wrong. The sample was all water -- no fuel. I noticed it because it was too clear, not the light blue color I was used to seeing for AvGas. Be careful out there.
 
somorris said:
I agree that small amount of fuel would likely not adversely affect the environment, but if the airport has rules about not dumping the sample, then the sample should not be dumped. Another thing to pay careful attention to is the color of the sample. I have sumped an airplane in the past and saw no bubbles or differentiation, but the color was wrong. The sample was all water -- no fuel. I noticed it because it was too clear, not the light blue color I was used to seeing for AvGas. Be careful out there.
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This is a good, and extremely important, point. Something CFIs should be teaching students. Another pointer is to sniff the testing cup (carefully) before dumping it out.
 
azure said:
You're probably still expected to catch it. That would be VERY difficult to do alone in my Cardinal unless you have a > 7 foot arm span.
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Not if you have one of these! $11 at Wally World. Getcha some duct tape and tape the sampler cup to it. :D

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mscard88 said:
Not if you have one of these! $11 at Wally World. Getcha some duct tape and tape the sampler cup to it. :D
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Haha! Yeah, I guess something like that could work. Still not worth the trouble, unless I start flying to places where the FBO makes a federal case out of dumping fuel.
 
azure said:
Haha! Yeah, I guess something like that could work. Still not worth the trouble, unless I start flying to places where the FBO makes a federal case out of dumping fuel.
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Yeah I wouldn't use it either.
 
Unit74 said:
In FL, I was slumping after a fill up. Line boy came out and watched me. I went in to pee for the last time and asked what was up. He said fuel dumpers get reported to DOT! I was like WTF! Big fines he said.
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Some planes have a gasolator which gets drained by pulling an inside ring, which goes on the ground, no way to collect it.
The gnats jar won't work if you aren't very gentle on the pour, if you tap the jar with your finger like you would with a cigarette to drop the ashes, it will allow water to pass.
 
At our airport, we put the sumped fuel into a regulation gas can (like the one you use to transport and store fuel for your gasoline lawn mower). Not sure what they do with it, but it prevents returning contaminated fuel to the airplane and placing fuel into the environment.
 
Unit74 said:
In FL, I was slumping after a fill up. Line boy came out and watched me. I went in to pee for the last time and asked what was up. He said fuel dumpers get reported to DOT! I was like WTF! Big fines he said.
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$10k fine in FL, someone said.
 
avongil said:
oh dang. This was an eye opener, thanks overdrive 148
http://www.sumpthis.com/cessna150andcessna152tanktest/cessna150tanktestimages1024x768.htm
Was the Cessna 150 fuel tank design changed for the 152??? That is really really bad.
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A little skepticism goes a long way. If things were as bad as that guy says, 150s would be falling out of the sky like fowl in a duck hunt. Check the Cessna 150-152 club and the Cessna 172 online forum. Cessna pilots have tried to engage this guy in meaningful conversation about his tests and results but he refuses to play ball.
 
iflyvfr said:
AIf things were as bad as that guy says, 150s would be falling out of the sky like fowl in a duck hunt. Check the Cessna 150-152 club and the Cessna 172 online forum. Cessna pilots have tried to engage this guy in meaningful conversation about his tests and results but he refuses to play ball.
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Maui Wowi selling AoA over thar too?
 
dmspilot said:
To be fair to OP, the instructions that come with the GATTs say the filter will filter out water.
However, I have tried it (by pouring it into a mason jar, not back into the tank :eek2:), and it doesn't really work.
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Thanks for posting that. I'm on my second or third GATS jar and I've never tested the theory that it won't hold back the water. Much appreciated!
 
Unit74 said:
In FL, I was slumping after a fill up. Line boy came out and watched me. I went in to pee for the last time and asked what was up. He said fuel dumpers get reported to DOT! I was like WTF! Big fines he said.
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Don't worry. I expect the EPA and DOT to be completely abolished within a few weeks. :rolleyes:
 
dated study, (1989 with 2000 update) but estimated 2.3 million GALLONS of 100 LL spread across US tarmacs annually from sumping. (doesn't include accidental spills, venting drips, etc).

I, too, learned to disperse it with a wrist snap so most of it atomized before it hit the ground, but have since changed my ways. Not trying to preach, or wiggle my finger at anybody. Just my own beliefs
 
Unit74 said:
In FL, I was slumping after a fill up. Line boy came out and watched me. I went in to pee for the last time and asked what was up. He said fuel dumpers get reported to DOT! I was like WTF! Big fines he said.
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So what do they propose you do with it, bearing that it's contaminated? Seems weird that they would get the DOT involved, it's more of an environmental thing.

Terry L in KY said:
I, too, learned to disperse it with a wrist snap so most of it atomized before it hit the ground,
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What I've always done too.
 
Just as a minor point, when trying to check for contaminated AvGas, try to hold the jar up with something white in the background so that your eye can differentiate color more easily. Holding the fuel sampler against a blue sky doesn't help much of anything, but hold it up against the white paint on the fuselage and it becomes more apparent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I can empty my strainer remotely or with my normal sump jar. I pull the lever and it pees on the ground, just like every other pilot I know. That's why fuel ramps are concrete and not asphalt. As for tossing a fuel sample being criminal... Heaven forbid any of these airplanes may drip a little oil from the breathers when parked! If capturing sumped fuel is required it would be stupid simple to keep a small gas jug around to pour it into.
 
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