Flushing outboard motors after use in salt water with reused water is really a simple matter.

Take a bucket or two into the shower with you and you should catch around 15 litres of water. This water, or water from your washing machine rinse cycle, is suitable for flushing an outboard motor.

The next step is to deliver your reused water to the outboard's intake system. If you have a small outboard motor, store your reused water in a large garbage bin. Lower the drive leg of the motor into the garbage bin ensuring the water intake is submerged and run the motor for a two or three minutes. This should be enough time to flush any residual salt water from your motor.

The water in the bin can be reused a number of times before it is discarded. For larger motors connect length of hose from the manufacturer's recommended outboard motor flushing connection to a tap at the bottom of a 15 or 20 litre clear plastic container.

Fill the container with enough reused water to run the motor for two or three minutes. You may need to do this a couple of times to establish just how much or how little water you will need. Elevate the plastic container to a point above the motor's water intake (higher is better).

Turn the tap on and ensure the water is flowing to the motor before starting the motor. Run the motor for two or three minutes, this should be enough time to flush any residual salt water from your motor. Make sure you can see how much water is in the container and turn the motor off before all the water is expended to avoid the motor running dry.