collecting water/condensation from a/c units

tattoojim · May 4, 2012

i have a window unit that makes 5 f-n gallons of water every two days..is this good water to use in the indoor garden? i have been dumping it on the outdoor garden.
btw the a/c unit is in a window that is in a garage. its a sonna all day long out there, even with a window rite next to it open. any thoughts on the water?

outwest · May 4, 2012

I have the exact same question. It's essentially distilled, no?

outwest

tattoojim · May 4, 2012

outwest said:
I have the exact same question. It's essentially distilled, no?

outwest

thats kinda what i was thinking...

seebobsled · May 4, 2012

Yes distilled but it can leach out aluminum and copper out of the heat exchanger. I would check E.C. with a meter. Any ppms would be the metals from the exchanger.

seebobsled · May 4, 2012

Basically r o water is very corrosive. Water is also considered a solvent.

El Cerebro · May 4, 2012

It is distilled, and then whatever airborne pathogens are redeadily available get added in unopposed for dessert.

tattoojim · May 4, 2012

seebobsled said:
Yes distilled but it can leach out aluminum and copper out of the heat exchanger. I would check E.C. with a meter. Any ppms would be the metals from the exchanger.

that could cause some problems rite?

tattoojim · May 4, 2012

El Cerebro said:
It is distilled, and then whatever airborne pathogens are redeadily available get added in unopposed for dessert.

in a good way..like adding some bennies on top of that....or the bad way..intrducing bad inoculants that fuck shit up

seebobsled · May 4, 2012

Yes having heavy metals can cause problems. Older ac's are more prone than new ac's. But Pathogens and bad bacteria a simple solution would be a little bit of clorox bleach. Or heat to a minimum 140 degrees.

tattoojim · May 4, 2012

seebobsled said:
Yes having heavy metals can cause problems. Older ac's are more prone than new ac's. But Pathogens and bad bacteria a simple solution would be a little bit of clorox bleach. Or heat to a minimum 140 degrees.

i think i will just dump it out...not worth the trouble imo

Bubblehaze · May 5, 2012

I use all my water that comes from my 3 ac's and 3 dehumidifier's. With great results I recycle over 100 gallons a week like this. The water comes out @ 0 ppm . Doesn't that mean there is nothing in it ? I would not drink it but my plants love it. Never heard of heavy metals being in there and I been doing this for years. The water at our spot comes out at 390ppm I don't like using it. I guess they said the ppms are high because we get lake water there. I will say if the water is near a light source and has been stagnant for more than a day or two you can get brown or green algae. But if you collect it daily and bleach your bucket every so often you will be fine.

El Cerebro · May 5, 2012

Maybe you could just UV it? Having dejavu, seems like this has been discussed in depth here somewhere.

seebobsled · May 5, 2012

I have a homemade Ice box like hydro innovations that drains directly back in my system with no problems. Like what was mentioned a key is disinfect the ac periodically and drain water frequently. My exchanger was brand new with a hydrophobic coating so I have no issues.

El Cerebro · May 5, 2012

seebobsled said:
I have a homemade Ice box like hydro innovations that drains directly back in my system with no problems. Like what was mentioned a key is disinfect the ac periodically and drain water frequently. My exchanger was brand new with a hydrophobic coating so I have no issues.

I've wanted to diy something like this myself, but got talked out of it for reason I mentioned above. Are you using just a tiny amount of bleach, so small that plants don't care? Or do you mean that you let it gas off first? Suppose you could also maybe use h2o2, but I don't wanna kill my microbes.

seebobsled · May 5, 2012

I use a sterile res and only bringing up a couple of ppm of the chlorine. Like a cap full over 30 to 40 gallons of water. Every 5 days or if a funk arises.

El Cerebro · May 5, 2012

seebobsled said:
I use a sterile res and only bringing up a couple of ppm of the chlorine. Like a cap full over 30 to 40 gallons of water. Every 5 days or if a funk arises.

Yeah makes sense, figured it must be sterile res, maybe could do an aerated holding tank to let chlorine out, or UV/ozone I guess? Anybody else with reclaim water recycling strategies?

seebobsled · May 5, 2012

Just disinfect your ac units. Drain into a covered container and dump daily.

2DNA64 · May 5, 2012

I'd bet some of the nutes your running has more metals in it then what you'll find in your runoff, I've used it before in a old room from a stand alone and had no ill effects..

southstreets · May 5, 2012

Yea there's no issue with using ur water from ur ac unit.. Use it daily.. No issues here.

el boyo · May 8, 2012

if you have mold in your air, or any contaminate, it can get into your condensed ac air.. was using mine for a while with no problem, then last year in middle of summer had problems.. it is not worth the risk for the amount of water saved vs. what you can loose if you have a problem..

collecting water/condensation from a/c units

collecting water/condensation from a/c units

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collecting water/condensation from a/c units

collecting water/condensation from a/c units

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