Condensate water

[Dave Miller]

Sometime ago there was a discussion on the practicality of saving the condensate water from an air-conditioning unit as a useful source of de-ionised water. I assume that such water, although appearing clean, would have a certain level of bacteria present. How would this effect storage, and would it require sterilizing in someway if longer term storage would be practical? Is filtering an option? Having poured some 10 litres of the stuff away yesterday it brought the subject back to mind.

 

[Flotsam]

I used to use a dehumidifier to keep the humidy in my basement down in the Summertime. It was amazing how much water it would collect in just a few days. I used to bottle it and use it as distilled water to mix my developers and never noticed any problems in storage or usage.

 

[Konical]

Good Afternoon, Dave,

Ditto to Flotsam's comment. I think that your concern about contamination is probably well-founded, although I never experienced any problems with water from a dehumidifier. I took care, however, to keep the collection pan as clean as possible.

Konical

 

[papagene]

You can also put a small amount of bleach (a few drops - can't remember) and then put the bottle out in the sun for a few hours. The sun helps kill off the bleach and any mold that may be in the water.
I have done this in the past with dehumidifier water.
If I can find the info on the amount of bleach, I'll repost.
gene

 

[Louis Nargi]

I'v been using condenste from my air condtioner, dehumitafier for years . the water is pure enough and consistant . Ihave it stored in one gal. bottles with no problems. Just run it though a coffee filter to get rid of any particle that might be in the water.