The Arid Bilge pick-up sucker acts like a weighted filtered sponge, absorbing all of the remaining water down to nothing, directing it to the small capillary intake tubing for the trip to the central Arid Bilge unit where the thinking is done inside the box. Here, the traditional float switch has been replaced with a pair of vacuum switches. These “virtual float switches” never actually touch water, allowing the microprocessor to sense the resistance created by the water as it is pulled through the 20-foot minimum length of intake tubing. Once air is suctioned through the intake tubing, the resistance falls and the system will pause on that zone (or zones) for three hours before resuming.