idea for top off water

[lordofthereef]

whats up everybody! i got a little brain storm today for top off water. i'm not big on r/o water since i don't want to see my water bill at the end of the month ! and i don't always get to my lfs to buy r/o from them. so, today i was playing with my dehumidifier, and realized maybe i could use the water that it produces. i mean, hey, it's all natural right? the water is from the air! i don't smoke in my house or anything, so maybe this would be a good idea. it produces around 5 gallons a week, so that would be perfect for my 5 gallon top off unit. please let me know if this is a good idea. thanks.

 

[beefcake]

I was thinking of getting a good ro/di unit but I didn't know how they worked. It seems that water runs through them but dosent convert all of it ? That pretty much would suck.

 

[dindi]

Well this is a stupid question...are you poor? Just buy the water and save because your pets will live to thank you about it. I have a DEhumidifier because I'm allregic to everything in my house. I just buy the RO water and don't worry about it, it is very cheap in comparision to the altrnative. Go into anther hobby if this is too much to handle. There is NO fast fix in this hobby

 

[rknapp]

I've been using water from a dehumidifier for almost 2 years now. It works fine. You will find no phosphates, nitrates, nitrites or ammonia in it. It is high quality. The only problem I have is living in the northeast, the basement has low humidity in the winter so for 4 months the dehumidifier doesn't collect any water. I use filtered water for those months. So don't be afraid to use it.

 

[bang guy]

ummm what is the water condensing on with your humidifier?
Is it copper tubing?

 

[beefcake]

Great attitude there Dindy. This hobby is very expensive and requires alot of work. If someone can think of something to make it cheaper or easier GREAT! We might all be able to benefit from it. Although I question the efficiency of using a humidifier it's good to hear some fresh ideas.

 

[majakarot]

what about RO water from a grocery store, it costs like $0.50 a gallon, thats what i use, isn't that ok? i change 10gal/mo and it only costs $5.00, that's like 13% of my 75

 

[plum70rt]

I have thought of this idea also, I run a dehumidifer in the garage ,water is pumped outside into ground, also the A/C unit on the house discharges alot of water , enough that I buried a 5 gallon bucket in the ground that catches it, always full after a few hours then overflows, I use it to water the flowers around the house, the problem is that bacteria grows inside the units and you dont want that in the tank, thats why you have to treat units with algae tablets,

 

[newfishliny]

Originally posted by Beefcake
Great attitude there Dindy. This hobby is very expensive and requires alot of work. If someone can think of something to make it cheaper or easier GREAT! We might all be able to benefit from it. Although I question the efficiency of using a humidifier it's good to hear some fresh ideas.
:
I thought I was the only one to read between the lines of that coment : I guess he had a bad day waiting on line at MCdonalds we are all here to help and bond together for this hobby ! have a good turkey
Don LI/NY

 

[newfishliny]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
ummm what is the water condensing on with your humidifier?
Is it copper tubing?
Today they use stainless steel or alum for the coil
I sell the products in my store, it sounds like a good Idea, it would be interesting to test the water.
Do LI/NY

 

[ironreef]

If your a buget reefer I would just use tap if your local tap isn't that bad. You can check if you call..... But I would use tap and just keep a powerhead and mix sw for a few days.Better than that store bought tap water fwiw I used tap for years in my reef never had a problem. I moved the water was different= top many mineral. My corals didn't like it so I just bought a ro.

 

[dad]

I also tried this about a year ago. Sounds good in theory but does have alot of drawbacks.
You are not replacing the nutrients and you are also adding polutents from the air. I went as far as to add a float switch to my tank to turn on and off the dehumidifier to add water automatically!
Better off catching rain water IMO
Good idea though,

 

[danrw84]

how much are those auto top offs, how big are they and where do you get em?

 

[eng50]

If you use a dehumidifier in the room the tank is in, you will effectively be removing more water from the tank! just something else to think about..
Then there is the purchase price, electricity to run it ...Not a very economical idea, RO units can be purchased for about the same as a good dehumidifier, and water is cheap. You can also benefit by drinking it as well! To many pluses not to do it, or take a chance on something different.
If you want to do something with the water from the dehumidifier, flush toilets etc, it will offset some on the RO useage water!!

 

[seesponge]

I would stick with the dehumidifier. I have been also using this water for two years. I works great. I am also a former chemistry teacher and used is for distilled water. I have never found impurities. My dehumidifier is in the basement not near the tank.

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by eng50
If you use a dehumidifier in the room the tank is in, you will effectively be removing more water from the tank! just something else to think about..
Good point to keep in mind!
Then there is the purchase price, electricity to run it ...Not a very economical idea, RO units can be purchased for about the same as a good dehumidifier, and water is cheap.
If someone is already using a dehumidifier, then they've already taken the $$ hit. Might as well use the water unless there's something wrong with it. As I recall they are $ to run... similar to a refigerator?
To be safe... your could pass the water through a DI. If it's really that clean then the DI cartrige would last a long long time. If the water has, say aluminum, then the DI should be able to cleanse the water. Is this true??

 

[dive1]

To comment on the wasted water I send my ro water to a 55gal durm which has the auto cutoff on it, then pump the water from there to 5gal jugs as needed. There is very little if any waste water when the barrel is full and unit shuts off so should not effect you water bill enough for you to see it. I used to tote water from work where we had large ro/di units for our boilers and this sure is a lot less work. The ro units do cost but worth the work it saves me... good luck. terry

 

[ntvflgirl]

Well this is a stupid question...are you poor?
How rude, Dindi. Not cool.
Yes, this hobby requires money, but it doesn't require an attitude to go along with it. I think it would be great if someone could find a way for this to be more easily accessible. Poor people like beautiful things, too.

 

[dburr]

I have a dehumidifier and never thought of the water being pure....hmm... it has a stainless steel coil.
My wife has been nagging at me to run the darn thing because "it stinks in the kids playroom". lol I tell her it's the rug, it got wet. women, can't live with can't live without them.
Maybe I will run it...
I had to comment on the poor statment from Dindi:
I started this hobby 2 years ago when I bought my house. I waited 2 years because of the thought of moving it.
I have a good job and it pays the bills, plus. After I got the tank up and running, bam, mad cow-then, bam, hoof and mouth.
What does this have to do with fish? I'll tall ya, I make slaughter house equiptment. My overtime was cut, we laid off people. I have 2 young kids and my wife didn't work at the time, she didn't need to. Now she works nights and I'm starting to get back some o.t. I don't consider myself poor, but I had to do some DIY, if you know what I mean. I like new ideas, I welcome them. I try them. And as long as I don't hurt my "pets" in the big box, why not.
We need to come together not tear apart. Sorry to ramble.
I got to plug in the dehumy for my DIY water

 

[rknapp]

I agree with seasponge. My dehumidifier runs in the basement too and as I said before I've found the water to work just fine. Since I have to run the unit during the summer months to keep the basement humidity low, I call my water "clean free top off water"! Of course if your running a dehumidifier just to make water for your fish tank it would be like using your stove to heat your house, it doen't make much sense.
And by the way, I've never seen a dehumidifier that has a copper coil. If anyone finds one it may be worth some money - as an antique!