Water from a dehumidifier???

[SaltieFresh]

I'm pretty sure that everyone is going to say that RO/DI is the way to go, but I was wondering if the water collected from my dehumidifier would be almost as pure. Isn't it essentially taking pure water out of the atmosphere? Would it at least be better than tap water? I don't have a TDS meter, so I can't say with all certainty that the water would be pure.

 

[Greenmaster]

Depends on the glue/plastic they use to make the dehumidifier... if you have some activated carbon you could pass it through that first and that would be good.

 

[SaltieFresh]

I might have to go ahead and answer this myself. I did a quick search on this site and most everyone said, "NO!" I guess there could be a lot of contaminants (i.e mold spores and bacteria) taken in from the air, not to mention the fact that the reservoir might collect some heavy metals when water collects on the coils.

I guess I should have done some research on this site before posting a thread, lol.

 

[Greenmaster]

... okay well as I said, if you were to use it, I would run it through a carbon filter first. RO/DI is better though.

 

[SaltieFresh]

Sorry, I was writing that w/o realizing you responded so quickly. You're right, a RO/DI unit would be better and it's probably safer. Most people from the older posts that I've read said that they wouldn't take the risk of using the water from a dehumidifier. It's too bad though, because that thing takes in about a gallon of water everyday during the summer months.

It's about time for me to invest a few more bucks into this hobby anyways.

 

[cabezon]

OMG no. the water that comes off a dehumidifier is gross. if you don't empty and clean the bucket every day it is a swamp.

 

[melosu58]

I would say No also. Too much trash is in there.

 

[SaltieFresh]

From everything I've read and everyone's responses, I won't use that water. I was hoping that someone was going to come along and tell me that they've tested the water from a dehumidifier, they've used it and its worked out great.