Water From My Central Air Safe?

[Brandan]

07-25-2010 01:44 PM #1

gbrandan

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Jun 2010

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Using the water from my central Air?

Ok, my uncle who is a heating and cooling wizard is helping me build my room. Well today he tells me " you know that u could prolly use the water that ur central air puts down the drain. I believe it is actually distilled water that comes out of it" Have any of you guys heard of this? The tube carrying the water just empties into my sink down there, so he said to just put the tube in a gallon bottle till it fills up and ten put a new bottle down there..

Is this water safe to grow with? It would be great and a way to save some extra $$$... Please someone let me know..

[Beans]

Drain water from your A/c is just condensed from the air and should be fine

be sure and check ph

[Brandan]

I was worried about spores or mold that may be inside of tubing or ducting getting into water then into my plants thus many problems can arise...

[boroboro]

I don't know about the potential for mold, mildew, etc., but I do know that the water out of my window A/C unit is so pure that it won't even turn on my PPM meter (a Bluelab truncheon that automatically turns on when you put it in water).

[Brandan]

Oh wow. Lol I was thinking possibly boiling it to kill any potential spores

[The Mayor]

I use water from my AC unit. It kicks out anywhere from 5 to 10 gallons a day. The pH is low, usually around 4.9. A step up from bubbling tap water for 24-48 hours (but I do that when necessary.)

[MmmSquirrel4Dinner]

That collected water is LOADED with mold and fungus spores... kill it with fire or UVA UVB radiation.

 

Next time you clean your A/C evaporator look and see if there is anything black and funky about it.

 

I have seen several A/C and dehumidifiers loaded with them nasties attached to everything, bleach the coils and boil the water before using it.

 

I use boiled rain water instead.

[Kingdiamond]

I'm looking into purchasing a rain barrel and mount it right outside the basement window then use this for my watering needs.

 

 

[Nemosity]

The water I use from the Ac is collected into a huge plastic bin. It sits there and I agitate it twice a day to get some air circulated into it. I don't have anything growing in the water or on the sides of the bin and the plants just love it. Of course if you want to talk microbes, I always have a five gallon bucket full of fermented rabbit doo-doo, compost, ash, molasses, and a few other goodies on the back burner. My girls get a two doses of that mixed into a tea at weeks four and six. No boiling, just working the natural way of things as best as I can. So far, so good for me. But like I said before, I'm such a newb and anything I say is purely out of what I have done thus far, which isn't really too much and only involves dirt growing. lol It may turn around and bite me in the arse and all my plants will die someday. But until then, I have to go with what works for me and help others out with what I know and have learned thus far. I guess all I can say now is, read as much as you can, ask many questions, and make an informed decision on what you want to try. I hope everything works out for you.

[CannabisPatient#1]

Drain water from your A/c is just condensed from the air and should be fine

be sure and check ph

 

Agreed. The water from my AC was very low pH. I love the water from my Dehumidifier. It starts out about 7.2 pH and balances out great with nutes or a bit of molasses or nitrozyme ect.