Is dehumidifier water safe for reef tanks?

[drbronx]

It seems it should be since it is pure condensation water. Though I have an RO/DI unit it would be nice if I can use the water from the dehumidifier since that way I would be putting the water to good use rather than shlepping it upstairs to pour down the drain. Any thoughts?

 

[fatrip]

use it for your garden.

 

[REEFROOKEE]

drink it. lol

 

[Dave VG]

Wow I’m on the fence. I kind of know what you mean….. but I wouldn’t drink it myself so it wouldn’t go into my tank. My mom uses it to water her plants.

 

[laxing22]

I thought about this several years ago (my old bigger tank was evaping ~8-10 gals a day and some-days it rained a little in the basement) and the answer I got most places, was that most dehumidifiers use copper tubing in their coils. I'm not sure how much, but one would assume that some of this copper could leach into the water that runs very slowly over it. Other then the the copper, It is probably same for fish only tanks and maybe even consumption if your are not worried about the copper yourself. Other than what it picks up from the pipes, it is rather pure water.

 

[Piazzon12]

there was a good discussion on this on FLR a long time ago... but they came to the conclusion that you would have to epoxy over the coils so as not to leach heavy metals, but that would reduce efficiency... all in all dehumidifier water is no good for a tank. Great for plants though

 

[St.james of reefdom]

agreed it is disaster waiting to happen, plants love it though

 

[drbronx]

OK, I'm glad I asked. Thanks folks!

 

[khaosinc]

some of them do use titanium coils. This is something I've always thought about doing but never gotten around to it yet. 50+ gallons a week of top off gets old.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Get a TDS meter. Water collected from a dehumidifier is usually loaded with contaminents- more so than tap water.
The same goes for rainwater.
The solution is to make RO water. Perhaps add a DI cartridge after the RO.

years ago I wondered if water collected by a dehumidifier might be okay to use in my reef aquarium. It's not.

 

[reefscape15]

the dehumidifier manuals say not to drink it, so I would'nt put it into my tank