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water AC Watering?

Shandley

Shandley

Greetings,

I have a good old air conditioner in my bedroom that condenses the air and seperates the water. I usually just dump this but I wonder if anyone has used this in leu of say, rain water.

Anyways, your thoughts?
 
I would be a little careful of the water because it might have a small amount of aluminum from the coils and pepper might not like it. It would be fine if only occasionally used but a lot might affect the plant. That would be the only thing I would be concerned about using air conditioner water but then again I am not an expert grower like many in here.
 
i wouldn't drink it...(lead solder?), but it will be fine for plants.
its pretty much just distilled water that flows past algae covered evaporator coils...
distilled water has nothing in it tho, so your plants need nutrition from other sources obviously
 
If water were harder to come by I might do it, but the tiny risk of introducing unpleasant metals into my food chain isn't worth the tiny inconvenience of getting water from somewhere else.
 
It is distilled water, but as long as your ac coil was not cleaned with anything caustic recently it should be fine. If your coil is in decent shape it will be okay, the first couple weeks there may be trace amounts of aluminum dust [ from slight corrosion over the winter] but it cleans it self out. I'm a gardener and an HVAC tech so I've plumbed in holding drums for some of my customers, they think its the neatest thing.
 
It is perfectly safe distilled water. In fact, I water my front pepper patch, flower garden, watermelons plants, two apple trees, two pecans, and one Hickory with mine. I drip in into a bucket remotely from the house, and drain it by drip through a bulkhead fitting and hose.

If there was any corrosion in the coil, your coil would not last a year. (I am a Mechanical Engineer specializing in refrigeration)
 
Aluminum readily oxidizes on its surface and the water collected won't be acidic so there should be no issue.

FWIW, aluminum is the most abundant metal in (the average earth) soil and plants need trace amounts of copper (though excessive amounts are toxic to plants, while humans have used copper for water since ?? decades).

As for the solder, I suppose anything is possible but AFAIK, they're brazed with silver solder, lead hasn't been used in years.
 
queequeg152 said:
i wouldn't drink it...(lead solder?), but it will be fine for plants.
its pretty much just distilled water that flows past algae covered evaporator coils...
distilled water has nothing in it tho, so your plants need nutrition from other sources obviously
Click to expand...
Lead is used to seal copper if you live in a house and drink tap water, either from a well or municipal source your getting a trace of lead, "The secret to pollution is dilution," most bottled water is taken from municipal water sources.
 
Lead in soldier forms a crust of calcium over it inside the pipe which basically seals off the lead from the water. A lot of cities have old lead water service pipes running to people's houses with no ill effects. As was said above, refrigeration coils are brazed with silver solder, no lead present.
 
Very old pipes will have residue buildup sealing the lead, plus water is treated to keep pH levels non-acidic, otherwise no lead pipes or solder have been allowed for human consumption per a national ban in 1986 in the U.S.. You're more likely to get lead leeching initially from a new brass faucet than any other place in a municipal water system in the U.S.
 
AC condensate is safe for watering plants. Don't let paranoia prevent you from using free water. It will have hardly any mineral content in it and and neutral Ph, but these are only concerns if you are using it as your sole source of water for potted plants.

Run your condensate line into a rain barrel and you will have free water rain or shine!
 
Prehensile said:
Lead is used to seal copper if you live in a house and drink tap water, either from a well or municipal source your getting a trace of lead, "The secret to pollution is dilution," most bottled water is taken from municipal water sources.
Click to expand...

oh snap, didn't know that, i thought all plumbing solder was "lead free" eco solder.

dont get me wrong, im not crazy about lead or anything.... i ONLY use lead solder for projects because it flows oh so much better than the eco solder. i probably have more lead in my brain most.
 
They are brazed with silver solder. When I mentioned 1986, it has to be kept in mind that a lot of homes are older than that... though anything that old is doubtful to have any lead exposed to water in the pipes anymore, it all leached out or was coated over by mineral deposits by now.
 
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