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Air Conditioner Water?

NeciFiX

Kung Fu Fighting!
Riiight...

So here I am caught waterless on day 2 in the hot summer and my CP's pots are still moist but... okay, I haven't been able to find out who or what is my water company even my mom doesn't even know their number so I deem it impossible to call them and find out if the water is safe for CPs, we have an air conditioner that drips outside on the deck so we have a bucket and we use the water to water my moms fuschia and roses. Would it be safe for CPs?

Thanks!

~NeciFiX

P.S. The water smells like bacon. LOL!
 
If it smells I wouldn't use it. If it didn't smell I'd say go ahead.
 
Well, I checked my water company (my mom is getting the number right now) all I have so far is it has less than 1% of fluoride in it and less than 0.2% of chlorine. I'll get the PPM in a minute...

It's 10-15 PPM... looks like I've been wasting a ton of money on water! I asked the hardness as in minerals and parts per million and he said 10-15 PPM.
 
Air conditioner water is safe to use if the coils and drip tray inside the air conditioner are clean. If there's a bunch of crud on the coils or in the tray then they will be in the water when you give it to your plants. Molds, dust and algae are the most common contaminants.
 
ANY water is better than no water at all.. if you absolutely can not get distilled water then use the stuff from the tap.. its not like you are watering with roundup or something.. 1 watering with tap water will not kill your plants.. but a whole day in summer heat with no water will almost certainly kill them or at the very least make them EXTREMELY unhappy.

Steve
 
My water company said the hardness in my tap water is 10-15 PPM as in minerals and all that... less than 0.2% chlorine and less than 1% fluoride.

Looks like I don't need to buy anymore water lol.
 
Buy a TDS meter and test it for yourself. The rating they give is what it is when it leaves the processing plant. That is not necessarily what it is when it finally reaches your tap. Remember it flows through miles of pipes and tubes on the way to your house and it can easily pick up stuff along the way.
 
Buy a TDS meter and test it for yourself. The rating they give is what it is when it leaves the processing plant. That is not necessarily what it is when it finally reaches your tap. Remember it flows through miles of pipes and tubes on the way to your house and it can easily pick up stuff along the way.

Exactly! I can guarantee that water will not be 10 - 15 ppm when it gets in there. I think I'm going to take a few pics of the water drops in my buildings. Hopefully it will be informative.

Nate.
 
  • #10
2 weeks? What is he going to do walk it there himself? There is no reason on earth why it should take 2 weeks to ship from Fremont (which is about 20 miles from my house) to Wisconsin. I have heard that you can buy TDS meters at places like Home Depot and Lowes. I would look there before I would risk 2 weeks of unknown tap water. If you are bound and determined to order from E-bay then go get yourself some distilled water to hold you over till it arrives.

To be honest, I have never used a TDS meter myself. I know without even looking that the chemical soup that comes from my tap is not good for my plants..
 
  • #11
Well I love my tap water. I refilled a bottle of it (yes it's true) 26 times in one day when I was sick and drank it all and kept drinking it. It's great! I doubt it would gain 80 PPM through the tubes... along the way. I'd guess it'd be 50 PPM. And I make little money so it's hard to afford these things, that's why I can't afford it for a week then it's SFRSS (Standard Flat Rate Shipping Service) so it would take another week.

TBH, I can't afford even one gallon of distilled water, so I'm staying with tap water until I see them start to decline or nothing changes then I'll keep sticking with it. I doubt that it would gain like 80 PPM through the tubes. Would de-humidifier water work too?
 
  • #12
This is what I did when I couldn't afford to buy water as a young'n....

Garbage can ~ $8
Piece of Gutter ~$6
Parents yelling about your rain water catching thing... priceless. err...

Cut a hole in the top of the trash can lid, and rig up the rain gutter so it would funnel into the trash can. Once a really good rain storm comes, you'll get 1/4 or 1/2 the can full of rain water. If you can figure out how to expand the surface area, it will fill faster. You just have to use your imagination and pace the hardware store thinking of what might work. Defusers, insulation foam, etc.

Some people would just collect rain water from the gutter of the roof, but mine had too much junk coming from the shingles, plus it would foam in big rains so I never trusted it.

Nate
 
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