Lacking in oxygen and water, fuels are hydrocarbons within whom bacteria, yeast and mould do not proliferate. So why is fuel in the tank contaminated ?
When filling tanks, the temperature differences between the fuel contained in the delivery tank truck and your boat’s tank causes air condensation heavy with humidity.
Added to this is moist air which penetrates the vats and tanks through the vents. This additional moist air is accentuated in regions with a strong range of daily temperature variations.
This humidity laden air condenses in the top part of the tank and forms drops of water which stream down the walls.
This water, in particular more corrosive, in the event of sea air, can be found, with regards its density, in the bottom of the tank under the fuel in other words “as a leaven”.
From there, micro-organisms and bacteria with water and oxygen are going to develop and multiply at the water-fuel interface by nourishing themselves with hydrocarbon compounds from diesel or petrol.