# Dehumidifier water



## HSaslow (Jan 26, 2008)

Can anyone give me a good reason why I shouldn't use the water I recover from my Dehumidifier. It would seem that since it is the product of condesation that it would be as pure as rain water. I hate just pouring it out and thought I could use it in my tanks.


----------



## jeff5614 (Feb 15, 2006)

Well, all the mold and bacteria that grow on the coils kinda make it a bit less pure than rain water. So I'd not chance using it.


----------



## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

How much water can you collect from one of these?


----------



## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Rain water - the real stuff - isn't all that pure either. Acid rain, anyone?


----------



## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

orlando said:


> How much water can you collect from one of these?


Depends on how humid the room is and what you set the dehumidifier I would assume


----------



## modster (Jun 16, 2007)

i have a dehumidifier in the basement. It can collect up to 2 gallons of water per day!


----------



## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

Doesn't the water condense on copper coils? On a new machine probably not an issue but as those coils start to get corrosion on them I would suspect that some copper is leach into the water supply. Maybe not enough to worry about. Perhaps worth testing for if possible?


----------



## bradac56 (May 9, 2007)

tkos said:


> Doesn't the water condense on copper coils? On a new machine probably not an issue but as those coils start to get corrosion on them I would suspect that some copper is leach into the water supply. Maybe not enough to worry about. Perhaps worth testing for if possible?


Copper leaching is the number one issue I've read about with using dehumidifier water that and
it's by no means meant to be used to water people or pets so there's no real regulations on what
goes into making it or cleaning the water it discharges unlike RO water.

- Brad


----------



## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

It probably wouldn't hurt to try setting up a small goldfish tank and trying it. I don't think I would ever use it if you keep shrimp because of the copper.


----------



## Andi (Feb 6, 2008)

Copper would irritate fishes gills, so if you see gasping at the surface you *may* have copper leaching into that water. Gasping at the surface could be from other things as well. I'm figuring that you wouldn't be using just straight humidifier water, so that helps dilute it also. If you have bettas you could try the water with them. Bettas are prone to velvet. In old days it was common to put a penny or two in the water to combat velvet.


----------

