The following Article was written by Ron Moon - 25 years Editor in Chief of of 4x4 Australia Magazine.
Ron Moon has extensive experience touring for extended periods through outback Australia. Where Ron goes is very remote, harsh and variable environments,  offering challenging off-road driving. Through his experience Ron Moon knows how to
'set a up' a vehicle so it is strong & reliable.

Ron Moon has had issues with diesel fuel and trialled a De-Bug Unit - From the results of his experience Ron wrote the following article and has been using De-Bug Units ever since.

Buy De-Bug Clean Fuel Units Online

                                BUGGING OUT

Think your fuel is safe from damaging organisms? Think again.
RON MOON reports on a proven way to debug your tank.

Most of us wouldn’t imagine diesel fuel was somewhere living organisms could survive, let alone thrive and multiply, but this is not the case. To be correct these ‘bugs’ really live in the water-fuel interface – existing in the water and feeding off the hydrocarbons in the fuel. And, while there are more than 250 types of fungi and bacteria that can live in this toxic environment there are only a couple of dozen which actually feed on the fuel and produce waste. Apart from the bacteria and fungi there are forms of yeasts and sulphate-reducing Bacteria that can occur in the fuels and oils.
Diesel bugs are minuet, just a couple of micron, or smaller in size –

can live in a wide range of fuels including synthetic oils, some solvents, normal petrol, jet fuel, kerosene, avgas, diesel and crude oil; the last few are especially prone to infestation. They feed on the energy in the fuel and as they grow (up to a rate that sees them doubling in number every 20 minutes!) they form mats or long strings of gel-like green, brown or black slime ( in petrol it can be clear). They also produce waste products which includes water, sludge, gums and acids and they will consume rubber gaskets, o-rings, tanks linings and more. 

Carried through the fuel system bugs will cause many problems including restricted fuel flow, blocked filters, uneven atomisation of the fuel, incomplete combustion and poor fuel economy, while cylinders can develop cool spots resulting in uneven wear to the rings and cylinder bores. The acids the bugs produce can find their way into the lubricating oil causing corrosion at the bottom end of the engine. Some species of bugs create acids that remove ions from the atomic structure of metals and this is the main cause of corrosion in fuel pumps and injectors.
 Sounds pretty horrific, doesn't it?
 However, as we said earlier, the bugs really live in the water-fuel interface so one could assume if there is no water in the fuel, then all would be fine and dandy.
   That's true, but the problem is ensuring there is no water, or bugs, in any of the fuel you receive, or no moisture being generated in your fuel tank with condensation from those cool desert or mountain nights we all enjoy while away four-wheeling. For four-wheelers refuelling out of 200-litre drums, jerry cans, or dodgy, little used hush servos, the problem becomes even more commonplace and acute.
This is not a new problem, but as injector systems and vehicle engines become more sophisticated, tolerances decrease and fuel atomisation becomes finer, the problems caused by HUM bugs are much more severe.     As well, over the years I've been involved with 4X4 Australia, it seems reports of crook fuel, or contaminated fuel, are becoming more common. Luckily, there are a few ways to protect your engine.
Firstly, your vehicle fuel tank needs to be clean and free of any foreign substances, including water. Keep a good check on your fuel

filter - one  with a glass bowl-type water trap is the best and easiest. If you find water in the filter you can bet there's more in the tank and it will bethere for a long time just waiting for the right conditions for the HUM bugs to breed and infest your fuel system.  Fuel contaminated badly with HUM bugs will smell foul and a bit like rotten eggs. To keep bugs under control an algaecide or biocide can be added to the fuel on a regular basis. But this is expensive and dead bugs drop to the bottom of your tank and form a sludge which has to be removed otherwise it will give bugs a safe place to wait and, when conditions are right, to multiply.
     I had my senses rocked when our Patrol had just clocked up 17,000km and we were at Berrima Diesel Services for a tune-up and power upgrade. We found water in the fuel filter and also brown and black algae - a sure. sign everything was not as it should be and my fuel tank was home to a plethora of unwanted guests. After fitting a Lucas fuel filter with glass bowl attached so I could check my fuel easily, I decided I'd fit a De-Bug Fuel Treatment Unit.
Now I have known about these units for sometime but like most people I had the 'She'll be right, mate!' attitude and thought I'd never require one. It's a hit crazy really - we rush off to buy the latest performance enhancing gear at the drop of a hat, but are a lot more reticent to buy gear that helps protect our vehicle's engine. The De-Bug unit looks like a fuel filter unit but inside the housing is a series of strong magnets w hick the fuel flows past. As the fuel flows through the unit any bugs in the fuel are distorted and torn apart by the strong magnetic fields.  The remains of these killed bugs are then passed through the normal fuel filter and burnt with the fuel.

CHECKING RESULTS

After an embarrassing `running out of fuel' mishap in Cape York, there were still no signs of bugs in Moonie's new de-bugged fuel filter. On his return to Melbourne Moonie took out the fuel filter and cut it up to see what it was like inside. Again it was perfectly free of algae, bacteria or fungus.

The De-Bug Unit was fitted at the 20,000km mark. Then while up on Cape York - at 32,000km (12,000km had been clocked up with the unit installed) -I got caught in the rather embarrassing situation of running out of fuel. It's a long story but. suffice to say, I made it into camp with the engine coughing and spluttering on the final dregs of fuel from my tank. In the fuel filter bowl the signs of water could be seen, but not one sign of any bugs. Back in Melbourne we changed the fuel filter and we cut the filter element up to see what it was like. Again it was perfectly free of any sign of algae, bacteria or fungus. It was enough to convince me t was onto a very good thing. Now, after the hug treatment, I can he assured the fuel my engine receives is as clean as it can be and t won't have any problems with filter blockages or acids eating injectors and the like. Maintenance on the De-Bug units is minimal. Any sludge or water which settles in the bowl can be drained off at regular intervals. After 25,000km I've checked the unit but have found no requirement to do either. For more information contact
Garth Morison at Morison & Morison Pty Ltd.,
ph: 03 9515 0771,   email qa@morison.com.au
or check out website: www. morison.com.au/de-bug.htm

Now I am confident my fuel is

as clean as it can ever be