I'm an Engineer in the marine industry. We use Refrigerated Sea Water systems. Instead of an Evaporator we use a Chiller which is just a Water version of a Evaporator. When the Chiller springs a leak we end up with salt water in the Freon. This is the worst possible thing that can happen. We go around and drill holes in the low spots and drain the salt water. Once the system is sealed again we use Refrigeration Pumps just the same ones that are used for automotive to draw the remaining water out. The Oil in the Pumps gets cloudy with moisture. We will stop and change the Oil in the Pumps once an hour at first and as the system drys out maybe once every 6 to 12 hours. We will use 3 or 4 pumps these systems hold 360lbs of Freon. We might need to do this for a week or more. So absolutely a Refrigeration Pump will suck water out of a Refrigeration System.

 

I see you prefaced your comments by notifying us that you are an engineer. Means nothing. 50% of all engineers graduated at the bottom 1/2 of their classes. In fact, your comments surprise me. As an "engineer", you should be well versed in this. You speak of the vacuum pump oil getting cloudy. That is a normal occurrence. The operating instructions tell you this. Changing this oil is a standard procedure. Yes, it does get cloudy from moisture.(that's why you change it ) But! It gets cloudy from water vapor, not liquid water. You state "we go around and drill holes...". I doubt there is any "we". Since we are title dropping, I have been a master tradesman for over 40 years and I have yet to see an engineer in the field wielding any sort of tool. The refrigeration techs do and they are the ones trained in this. The only way a 3 CFM pump is going to draw liquid water from a system is if the physical pump is the lowest point in the apparatus. Then it is by gravity. I have yet to see a pressure port on an automotive system that is the lowest point in the loop.(that was the topic of discussion here, not cooling water for Nemo) There are numerous reliable sources available that will attest to this. I have a challenge for you. The next time "we" have to do this procedure, insert a clear rigid line in the vacuum pump circuit and video a solid column of water being sucked up by the pump. Post up your results here.