Drastic Measures - should have done this long ago...

[elgecko]

This heat wave in PA and much of the US is blistering. In a 3 day stretch I had to use over 25 gallons of water to get my plants a little moisture in the pots outside.
I had to do something for water.

I had to cut the jugular....

I modified my A/C condensation drain to catch the run off. My dad is able to help also. He started to collect water for me before I modified my A/C unit tonight. He is reporting of getting 2 1/2 gallons in about 5 hours. Hopefully with the help from him I'll eventually get on top of this dry spell we are having and have some water on hand.
I need to make a run-off back to the drain so I can let it collect water while I'm at work. Right now I have to keep an eye on it or I'll have water everywhere.

 

[Sig]

I'm doing this also for a newly installed air conditioner, but the water tastes a little off right now. I hope it'll be fine after it's been running for a while, but I'm not going to use it for a few days.

 

[Rocketcaver]

Um, why not get a 5 gallon container?
I tried this by the way, but my condensed water measured 95 on my TDS meter.
Not great for the plants so I'm not using it.
Did you measure yours?

 

[swords]

I remember way back when I was in school High Times put a notice in their magazine that an AC used in a grow room will drip scented water out your window so the water needs to be collected - before you get collected!

Totally Off topic I know - seeing this just reminded me that article. LOL

SIG I really wouldn't advise drinking those drippings!

 

[elgecko]

Never thought about testing it.

It's reading 68... my tap water is 90. That must have gone down because it was higher then that when I tested it a few years ago.
Well I'll have to use the 68ppm out of the condenser, I'll go broke buying water in this dry heat wave.

 

[GrowinOld]

If you haven't considered installing rain barrels,
but have the possibility for them,
think about the possible merits of one, or 2, or more!

I have used them for years with great results.

(PS: If your cooling coils are copper, could that be a toxic problem of sorts? I am not sure, but perhaps someone knows...? I wouldn't think there would be enough leaching into the water, but with raising certain "fish/aquatics" I have heard that sort of thing can be a problem.)

 

[Rocketcaver]

I think the fins are probably aluminum.
By the way, we installed 2 rain barrels for this very reason, trouble is it hasn't rained since.
I'm still buying RO water at Wally World.
68 is higher than recommended, but since it's better than your tap water go for it.
My tap water is about 133, and my AC water is 95 so I'm stuck.

 

[elgecko]

I'd love to do rain barrels... not where I live currently.... plus it has not rained in weeks!

I usually collect rain water, a slow process... a gallon at a time. I have 55 gallons worth of 1 gallon and 2 1/2 gallon jugs I use; all empty for weeks now.

Not sure about the copper. Some coils are aluminum fins, copper tubes.

 

[swords]

but with raising certain "fish/aquatics" I have heard that sort of thing can be a problem

Yes, no using this water for crabs, shrimps or other inverts if it's dripping off copper piping.

 

[nightsky]

Good idea. Hey, if it works may as well!

Our humidity is so low here I'd get maybe a couple ounces a day. I just checked the condenser line and it's putting out about 1 drop per minute.

 

[GrowinOld]

Well, my last "thinking outside the box" ideas are 1. that if you simply move the kitty litter jug near the sewer/sump hole, any overflow should just drain off into the hole, if they sloped the concrete properly... and 2. if you only have small jugs (did I just say what I think I said? ) then to extend your period of having to check and empty jugs...
Take one jug, when full, and (assuming you have access to more tubing...cheap or free...!) pour 1/4-1/3 of the jug into 2 or 3 other jugs...and run a siphon tube from one jug to another (or from one to many others). This will give you 3 or 4 jugs (or more) "hooked up together with a siphon", and then simply run your "filler" tube into one jug. As it fills, it will fill the others also.
The only problem will be cutting the tubing to proper lengths, creating a siphon to each one (the biggest problem) and making sure the siphon lines stay in place (another biggie).

I would assume all this work wouldn't be worth it, nor the tubing costs... although if you have extra tubing on hand, extra 2-1/2 gal jugs, and a lot of time, it could be a project to try.
Perhaps just buying a few 5 gal buckets would be worth the cost! (I do something similar with my rain barrels.)

We have gone from one 55 gal drum, to two, and from two to three, for this very reason...drought!
In addition, I also store about 8- five gal. covered buckets and a few 2-1/2 gal litter jugs. This is a lot to store when not needed, but during long droughts, I used to run out. Knock on wood, so far so good, but if I could convince my wife and had the time, I would have a dozen rain barrels around! Barrels, cisterns.... the old ways really were the best!
While a bit of a hassle at times, it gives me good exercise and doesn't cost anything in water, filters or membranes. (And again, if I didn't worry about the wife or neighbors, I would build a nicer and easier way of "handling" the water.

Well, good luck. And with no objections from anyone who has more experience with it, collecting water from the coils seems to be a good idea. I would try it myself, and have no real concerns about trying and seeing what happens.
(I do recall a previous thread however, where coil collecting was "thumbs down" because of the metal leaching into the water and poisoning the plants. Perhaps there is more info to be found about it there.)
Here is one I found:
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81032&highlight=coils+condensing

Who's to say unless you try, really!
Again, good luck.

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

Very neat, a few summers back I attempted to use the condensation from our de-humidifier. I did some quick research and found that the biggest threats were mold spores and copper from the condensation coil. I was much more worried about the later (you can imagine why). Back then my collection was smaller and easily replaceable so I mixed gallons of RO and collected water 1-1 and water the outside collection. Due to the mold spores present in the water I decided against using that water for my indoor collection.

Very cool experiment though, let us know how it works out long term!

 

[jimscott]

I'm doing this also for a newly installed air conditioner, but the water tastes a little off right now. I hope it'll be fine after it's been running for a while, but I'm not going to use it for a few days.

Yeah.... I've noticed this as well. We have little pvc AC spouts from each of the apartments and I could fill up gallon jugs galore. I just don't trust that water.

 

[elgecko]

I'm only going to use the collected water from the condenser to water my outside plants. I'm not thrilled with using it, but have no other choice with the amount of water I'm needing in this heat wave. I think what I will do is use 1 1/2 gallons from the condenser and 1 gallon RO water.

 

[GrowinOld]

Another thought....

Any natural sources of accumulated rain water? Like unpolluted lakes, rivers, creeks around? I guess unpolluted is the key, however all these plants are growing in natural locations anyway, so it isn't like we need some sort of pristine, sterile source.
Running some lake water thru a simple filter could do the trick, if you know the mineral content (check with a meter) and if it doesn't appear that the surroundings are filled with rusty, old 55 gal drums that are leaking some foul smelling yellow-green acid or something of the like's.

Well, just a thought.
If the ducks are drinking it, and fish are swimming in it... and minerals are low...then it might be safe... (Key word: might!)

Good luck!

 

[elgecko]

Supposed to be getting isolated thunder storms today 30% chance, tomorrow 60% chance. Maybe I'll get some water from the storms if they happen, but like most times I'll be away and not collect any.

GrowinOld,
You have a good idea about stream / lake water. Next weekend is the Pine Barrens trip... may have to come home with a few gallons of water.

 

[RL7836]

Supposed to be getting isolated thunder storms today 30% chance, tomorrow 60% chance. Maybe I'll get some water from the storms if they happen,...

Beware of the water after extended dry periods - likely to contain all sorts of accumulated bad stuff....

This weather sure has been crazy. Last year we had an extremely cool, wet summer and this year is heading for the opposite extreme. I've probably had to make more RO water in the past few weeks than I made all last year ...

Sure hope it cools down by next weekend for the Barrens. If not I'll spend most of my time upside down in Lake Atsion ...

 

[Exo]

Beware of the water after extended dry periods - likely to contain all sorts of accumulated bad stuff....

This is true, we had a week and a half of drought and today it rained.....I tested the water and it was at around 20ppm......thankfully this is still a perfectly safe level, but it's higher than it was before the drought when we were getting lots of rain.

 

[elgecko]

I let it rain for a good while before trying to collect any off the roof. If it's not clear, I do not use it.

I've thought of an RO system several times, but every time I think of the huge waste of water it turns me off. I will have one in the new house, but I will somehow recycle the waste water... flush the toilets or something...

If it's this hot next week, I'll accidentally have a "Man overboard" a few times.