FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I just tested the water in my dehumidifier.

My meter says that the water condensate has a TDS of 11.

That's good enough to use for CP.

Has anyone else tested their dehumidifier water for TDS, and if so, what was your reading?

Good growing,
Mike

Mine was 13 tds.

I don't use water from my humidifier unless I actually need to use the dehumidifier to dehumidifie a room. They are expensive to run.

I keep a dehumidifier running in my basement. It's needed. Otherwise things can get damp and mildew infested.


Good growing,
Mike

I also use dehumidifier waste water. Mine measures 12 tds typically. The water has a somewhat harsh, chemical smell which caused me to avoid using it for my cp's originally, but I got a ZeroWater {hope its OK to use the brand name here} filter to filter it down to tds of zero. No smell and no problems with the plants. Not sure where the smell comes from and it seems to fade over time. Filtering 12 tds water means that the filters last a long, long time compared to our 140 tds local water.

I know this is an old thread. I just didn't want to start a new one. I was wondering, would the water from any dehumidifier have a low TDS and be safe for CPs?

i got a cheap one of amazon and its in the 50's =( my tap water is only 23

I collect rain water for my inside plants and have a zerowater pitcher for back up. Outside i just use my low TDS tap rain prevents build up

TrapsAndDews wrote: ↑Sun Feb 20, 2022 6:03 am I know this is an old thread. I just didn't want to start a new one. I was wondering, would the water from any dehumidifier have a low TDS and be safe for CPs?

Chances are yes since basically it is distilled water, but you never know. I use mine all the time with no ill effects, except, for some reason, it doesn't play well with Maxsea.

Grab a tds meter and check. One thing to be wary of is the temperature of your water. The standard temp is 25C (~77F) for tds measurements. The measurements will vary significantly if you're not using the same temp of water.

If you don't have a TDS meter, you can usually take to to a pet store that has fish and they will test it for you.

mine makes about a gallon and a half before I drain it. ppm of 13, and after a month or so, no ill cps

I was just asking because I was in desperate need of distilled water (maybe I could've distilled some myself). Stores are very low in distilled water right now.

Most dehumidifiers work by drawing air across a cooled condenser, usually metal, many of them copper or a copper alloy because copper conducts heat very well. The moisture in the air condenses onto this metal and drips out of the unit. The TDS of the water will be very low as it is essentially distilled water. The problem lies with the water also pulling the metal ions with it, and copper is toxic to plants, and copper or other metal ions cannot be measured with a TDS meter.
That being said, the amount of copper is typically low enough that there will likely never be an issue, it just won't accumulate quickly enough, so you're probably good. However, you might want to think twice about using condensate from an AC unit as, while the same principle, the AC unit is much bigger than a dehumidified, so more ions will be shed into the water.
Another proactive thing you could do; save all your distilled water jugs and collect rain water. Store it in the jugs in a dark place to help prevent algae, and refill as you can. Maybe get a gallon or two of distilled water every so often to flush your pots, then you don't have to stress when the CPAP users decimate the distilled water supply.

ChefDean wrote:Most dehumidifiers work by drawing air across a cooled condenser, usually metal, many of them copper or a copper alloy because copper conducts heat very well. The moisture in the air condenses onto this metal and drips out of the unit. The TDS of the water will be very low as it is essentially distilled water. The problem lies with the water also pulling the metal ions with it, and copper is toxic to plants, and copper or other metal ions cannot be measured with a TDS meter.
That being said, the amount of copper is typically low enough that there will likely never be an issue, it just won't accumulate quickly enough, so you're probably good. However, you might want to think twice about using condensate from an AC unit as, while the same principle, the AC unit is much bigger than a dehumidified, so more ions will be shed into the water.
Another proactive thing you could do;
save all your distilled water jugs and collect rain water. Store it in the jugs in a dark place to help prevent algae, and refill as you can. Maybe get a gallon or two of distilled water every so often to flush your pots, then you don't have to stress when the CPAP users decimate the distilled water supply.

When I thought you were a chef...