Lets Talk Condensate

1diesel1 · Jul 21, 2018

I use condensate water from my dehumidifier and supliment it with R/O when needed. Unfortunately this time of the year we don’t get much humidity. But typically I have to empty it a couple times a day.ive found if you keep the dehumidifier holding tank clean it eliminates the stagnant smell and pond scum. As far as heavy metals. I’ve had many a discussion with hvac techs on this subject. All hvac and de/humid coils are made of aluminum. Aluminum does not emit metals into the evaporating water flow. All the metal and chemicals are on the coils from assembly at the factory. Typically I will run a new machine for 2 months. By then all the applied chemicals from the factory will have transpired from the coils. But if your impatient you can get environmentally safe cleaners from a hvac supply house. I think a lot of us growers that rely on these products dont maintain these machines as they need to. If you are running full time they should be serviced every 3 months. Filters changed coils cleaned etc.

GT21 · Jul 21, 2018

GrowGod said:
I ain’t downloading that lol

Dont need to.

Anyway.. i have used it before and didnt have problems. I would worry about any green stuff on the coils or if its been cleaned with chemicals.

Ill go away now.

Aqua Man · Jul 21, 2018

Will leave this here: http://www.questclimate.com/laboratory-test-condensate/

UVC like this: https://www.amazon.com/Cobalt-Aquatics-Micro-Clarifier-watt/dp/B00D5WH50S with a small pump to circulate the water for a while and ensure no yukkies (technical term) in the water.

Again they sell us a super expensive unit to fix nothing wrong, claiming heavy metals in it. yep there is but not near enough to worry about. Fucking greedy fucks

There fixed... had the same link twice

GrowGod · Jul 21, 2018

GT21 said:
Dont need to.

Anyway.. i have used it before and didnt have problems. I would worry about any green stuff on the coils or if its been cleaned with chemicals.

Ill go away now.

Green stuff is when condensation comes in contact with the copper:)

Aqua Man · Jul 21, 2018

Just wanted to add if anyone is thinking of adding inline UVC to a system it will break down some trace elements like iron over time and could be an issue depending on use.

1diesel1 · Jul 21, 2018

Aqua Man said:
Just wanted to add if anyone is thinking of adding inline UVC to a system it will break down some trace elements like iron over time and could be an issue depending on use.

They make UVCs for air flow in an hvac application. We’ve dabbled with it in a couple commercial applications. Had a tenant that was manufacturing plastics the smell was horrendous for the tenant next door. It totally eliminated the smell. I was thinking of putting it in my 4 ton unit to see if I could eliminate my charcoal filter. After having a few discussion with hvac techs, I decided to pass on it. Apparently there is an issue with uv light effecting your health when used in that specific application.

GT21 · Jul 21, 2018

GrowGod said:
Green stuff is when condensation comes in contact with the copper:)

Green stuff... Yuk!!
This is what happens to water from a dehumidifier

Ok ok now im done.

Aqua Man · Jul 21, 2018

Its nasty shit and I think it should be only used in contained units. It will kill your plants in a few seconds of exposure (in doses used for sterilizing). No experience using it with air but plenty using it in water. Our ozone layer filters out all UVC thats what the big debate over greenhouse gasses destroying the ozone was over. If the plantet was exposed to UVC at the levels its exposed to UBA/UVB the planet would literally die. This is why they are often referred as ozone filters.

1diesel1 · Jul 21, 2018

GT21 said:
Green stuff... Yuk!!
This is what happens to water from a dehumidifier

Ok ok now im done.

Clean the holding tank and test it again. Would be interesting to see if it changes.

GT21 · Jul 21, 2018

1diesel1 said:
Clean the holding tank and test it again. Would be interesting to see if it changes.

If that was the change then it came from the garden hose i use to drain to paint buckets. The bucket has never changed water.. I use a lot of them. Its summer now so wont have it running for months

1diesel1 · Jul 21, 2018

GT21 said:
If that was the change then it came from the garden hose i use to drain to paint buckets. The bucket has never changed water.. I use a lot of them. Its summer now so wont have it running for months

Inside the unit there’s a tray under the coils that catches the condensate water. It gets built up with yuckeys and nasties. Clean that then catch in a clean cup. Should get a more accurate reading.

1diesel1 · Jul 21, 2018

1diesel1 said:
Inside the unit there’s a tray under the coils that catches the condensate water. It gets built up with yuckeys and nasties. Clean that then catch in a clean cup. Should get a more accurate reading.

Sorry, thought that was from hvac,

1diesel1 · Jul 21, 2018

One other thing that I believe gets overlooked with condensate water is air flow through the coils. When the fan is pulling air across the coils it is pulling air born particles into the coil. Condensate water is catching the particles and depositing into the resivor. Depending on your environment this could cause a problem. Good or bad hard to say.

Aqua Man · Jul 21, 2018

1diesel1 said:
One other thing that I believe gets overlooked with condensate water is air flow through the coils. When the fan is pulling air across the coils it is pulling air born particles into the coil. Condensate water is catching the particles and depositing into the resivor. Depending on your environment this could cause a problem. Good or bad hard to say.

Yes i'm sure spores or bacteria would make their way in there. Probably not a big deal if you are keeping the res clean and using the water each day.

RooR5mm · Jul 21, 2018

I use untreated reclaimed water from AC’s and Dehues year round with ZERO issues.
The only time I need RO from my system is the dead of winter when their isn’t enough humidity in the air for the ACs to remove. The dehue runs at lights off in the winter and gets dumped into the water storage tank.
You could use a UV sterilizer or a KDF filter for biologicals if you want, don’t see a use for one.

Dan789 · Jul 21, 2018

Just chiming in, when in bloom when I’m running the dehewy to lower RH, that goes straight back into the system. I haven’t been using a tds meter, so can comment on that aspect, but know it’s not adding any chorine and I don’t have to age and “bubble” it.
PS I’m growing only in the fall/winter as I’m in Northern California and don’t want to give more to the power company (by running the a/c for my grow).
PS dirt grower only so far.

2toughtony · Jul 21, 2018

I can honestly say that it works back when I had the 25 lighter we used the water from the dehumidifier all the time mainly because the drum was close to the nute res and we didnt wanna dump it never saw an issue

sixstring · Jul 21, 2018

i have been reclaiming and using my ac and dehuy water for almost 10 years.when i started doing this both coils were copper.now in my new spot my state of the art hvac is all aluminum and my anden dehuy is also all aluminum.that said they have always tested at 0.0 ec/0 ppm and yes good ec meters are more accurate than a ppm meter. think about how many contaminants are in bagged soils and how nasty city tap water can be,and all the people using these in gardens.if i had to guess my r/o system makes up about 10% of the water needed to keep my plants alive :cool:
you think some dehuy water has trace amounts of heavy metals ? better check those msds sheets on yo nutes foo :facepalm:

stonestacker · Jul 21, 2018

G gnome said:
U need a tuck pointer

Why?

Don't forget where Legionnaires disease comes from.

MissBotany · Jul 21, 2018

I use mine to water my dwarf Alberta spruces outside. No issues at all.

Lets Talk Condensate

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