De-humidifier

grokefish · Post by **grokefish** » 16 May 2007, 19:21

do you think I can pour the water from my de-humidifier back into the fish tanks from whence it came?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 16 May 2007, 19:55

definitely NOT

why would you do so? it's water...cheaper thn electricity by a long shot.....

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 16 May 2007, 22:39

I think the question is : I need a dehumidifier anyway - because so much water vaprises. The water it produces (et cetera)

Not getting a dehumidifier might not be an option

syno321 · Post by **syno321** » 17 May 2007, 03:25

I am also interested as to why the water from a de-humidifier can't be used for aquaria. There are some parts of the world where water is not as common as in Belgium,and we are more acutely aware of the need to conserve our local supply.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 17 May 2007, 07:52

what's Belgium got to do with it?

a dehumidifier contains those crystallike substances
wich bind the water and drop it down in a reservoir.

in short: it's turned into toxic waste. now, you might try that on your fish, but it's your own tank.....

Mike_Noren · Post by **Mike_Noren** » 17 May 2007, 11:14

Is it an electric dehumidifier, not a chemical one?

If so, if it's got cooling tubes of titanium or maybe stainless steel, NOT copper, then perhaps the water is usable.

If it's a chemical dehumidifier, then no, the water is not usable.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 17 May 2007, 12:13

Mike_Noren wrote:Is it an electric dehumidifier, not a chemical one?

If so, if it's got cooling tubes of titanium or maybe stainless steel, NOT copper, then perhaps the water is usable.

Of the possible metals, I would think that aluminium or copper would be the two most likely[1]. Aluminium is not great, but has hard oxide coating, so unless your water is also acidic, it shouldn't dissolve much. Copper isn't too bad either (water stained copper is pretty resistant to corrosion in neutral pH conditions - this is why using it in water pipes is a decent idea).

[1] Assuming it's a product for home/office use, rather than a industrial unit for the chemical industry, where fancy materials such as acid-resistant stainless steel or titanium would be the most likely.

If it's a chemical dehumidifier, then no, the water is not usable.

Completely agree here.

I also agree with the people saying "what's the point". Unless you have HUGE amounts of water from the dehumidifier, just letting it drain into the nearest drain in the house is probably the best idea.

--
Mats

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 17 May 2007, 14:27

problem is that water trapped in a dehumidifier is vaporized water condensed down....

and that kind of water is very very reactive as it is almost pure H2O with perhaps a few dustparticles picked up.

also: it's picking up all kinds of crap within the house! cigarette-smoke, vapourized oils from "airbreezerthingies", incense, housemite-poo, cat skin particles, dog skin particles, parrot feather dust, human skin particles, common dust, car exhaust fumes, chemical cleaning fumes, mould spores, cooking fumes, ionized air from aircondioning systems....shall I go on?

then, and only then it ends as liquified water in the dehumidifier.

I wouldn't even drink that stuff, let alone poison my fish with it.

finally: dehumidifiers are often stuffed away in humid, mouldy, dusty corners, under central heating systems, in closets and cellars. not exactly a healthy environment either.
we don't put them in the best spot in the house, wich would be in the lap of a nonsmoking, non perfuming, non eating person or so.

really, it's not worth the bother.

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 17 May 2007, 15:19

I tend to use this sort of water for the garden. Ground covers go nuts for it.

Amanda

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 17 May 2007, 16:02

it's fine for plants, perhaps.

but I too use "waste" water for plants: the water that needs to be refreshed from fishtanks!
fishpoop = fertilizer.

no way I would pour it back in the tanks; doesn't make sense while doing waterchanfes, does it?

Grokefish; if you want to conserve water here's a great tip: rig up the toiletreservoir to the fishtanks!

now THERE'S a load of pure clean drinkable water totally wasted, cause we use it to flush out crap. if you'd make a waterpipe from the faucet to the fishtank and a rundown pipe from the tank to the reservoir, everytime you take a flush you'd use tankwater to get rid of the turds and everytime that amount of water is replaced by fresh clean water.

I heard about someone actually building something like that.

syno321 · Post by **syno321** » 17 May 2007, 16:05

Thanks for the responses, good information.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 17 May 2007, 16:08

Sidguppy, that's an excellent suggestion.

I've been thinking about using the waste-water from the RO for "toilet-flushing". Here in the UK, where most houses already have "non-drinking water" supplied from a tank in the loft (or some other place "high up"), it's not particularly difficult to do that.

The only problem I have is that I don't have a spare water-pipe from the loft to the toilet specifically, so I'd also end up showering and bathing in that water - which isn't a major problem, except that there will be somewhat higher level of bacterial growth in the water tank in the loft, due to the chlorine being filtered out of the RO water (by way of a carbon block filter).

The other problem is of course to lift the water from my fish-room at ground level to the tank up the loft in the house...

--
Mats

--
Mats

grokefish · Post by **grokefish** » 17 May 2007, 23:08

I was asking because of the amount of water I loos, get it, from my biggest tank if I have it open topped with a pendant lamp on it. If I keep topping it up will not the minerals build up in the water until I no longer have the loverly soft water that my fisshy's love so much.
As for the stuff the water would take on, smoke purfume etc. I'm sure the tank is probably taking that in any way through the surface and the air pump, the carbon takes care o that, I think, or hope.
Mats get a rain collector system and put it in, flush your toilet, do your washing happy in the knowledge that you aren't 'wasting anything'
Why is everyone so scared of bacteria these days? Lakes and rivers are made o rain water and I have been swimming in them since I was a nipper, not to mention the gallons of tank water I have swallowd over the years.
What has Belgium got to do with it?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 18 May 2007, 09:29

Grokefisah; use thin glass panels on the open tank top and suspend the pending lamp above these.

there are other reasons to close a tank with glasspanes than humidity.....like stepping on a dead or dying fish the next morning.

open fishtanks are a disaster or a tragic incident just waiting to happen, even without the subject of a bookcollection or wallpaper going all mouldy.

and with an open tank the minerals do go up, unless you refill with RO-water. another good reason to close it off with glasspanes.

Syno123 started about the Belgium issue....but Belgium isn't the Rhine Delta, that's laying north of it

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 18 May 2007, 09:43

I'm with sidguppy on the subject of covering the tank. You can also get "fine-corrugated plastic sheets" from your local DIY shop (or garden centre), which has a "wavelength" of about 3-4 cm (peak-to-peak) and a height of about 1cm. Easy to cut, and almost 100% translucent. And it's nicely lightweight to handle.

Yeah, I know, the bacteria scare in this country (and probably the rest of the (western) world) is pretty paranoid and stupid.

--
Mats

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 18 May 2007, 14:09

Try telling that to Legionella pneumophila. You should put a bit of bleach in the dehumidifier reservoir.

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 18 May 2007, 14:37

Chrysichthys wrote:Try telling that to Legionella pneumophilia. You should put a bit of bleach in the dehumidifier reservoir.

Yep, one concern, if you don't clean your humidifier or dehumidifier regularly it will make the original problem worse. But, the threat of Legionella should be kept to a minimum if you are diligent about cleaning.(I can't specify certain water-cooled compressors for restaurant kitchens in most areas of the US because of Legionnaire's. It's a rule I don't mind.) I've found many folks who keep clean fish rooms tend to care about things like clean humidifiers and dehumidfiers. Hence, this excellent conversation.

Amanda

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 19 May 2007, 01:10

This topic recently came up and ran for weeks on killi-talk about salvaging the condensed water for reuse in aquarium and the collective wisdom of the responding American Killfish Association's membership was it wasn't a good idea. Just as in the catfish keeping community, the AKA has among it's membership, a strong base of aquarists who have technical and scientific backgrounds.

I am acutely aware of the need to be as efficient as possible in our use of water and power but this is just not one of the practical ways to obtain a meaningful increase in efficiency.

Dehumidifier condensate could be conceivable be salvaged using some sort of solar driven distallation process to produce virtually pure water.
I think , perhaps groke fish is familiar with this solar engery business and various applications.
The areas where water is a resource in short supply also tends to be regions abundant in sunlight and heat. Energy is there for the taking and solar stills are generally simple in design.

Greater water savings are to be had from wise reuse of the "waste' stream from RO/DI filters. Electicity can offer one of the areas of greatest conservation. Heated tanks in well insulated structures heat the tanks then the surrounding living/work spaces before it is ultimately lost. Using compact fluorescent light through out a home and T-5 NO fluorescents are another good idea.

I have made many of the lighting and heating changes in the past year and increased the number of electical devices.
During this period the ambient outside temperaatures were the same as the previous year yet my energy use dropped ~10% from the previous year.

Sorry about introducing power issues into reusing dehumidifier water but they are so interelated.

Post by **Shane** » 19 May 2007, 08:15

There have been a couple of posts as of late with regards to using water from other devices in the aquarium or even "recycling" aquarium water. While I like to see people consider the effects of their hobby on the environment, lets put some things in perspective.

Action Water Usage
Brushing teeth 1 gallon
Taking a shower 5 gallons/per minute
Taking a bath 35-40 gallons
washing dishes 10-15 gallons
Laundry 19-45 gallons
Car Wash 20-30 gallons

So every morning we are using about 54-56 gallons (10 minute shower, teeth, and toilet flush). That is equal to 20% water changes on 25 ten gallon tanks or 20% water changes on 12-13 twenty gallon tanks. My point is that every morning we go through enough water in our normal routine to keep a mid-size fishroom going for a week. And, if you are able to use the waste water from water changes on house plants, the garden, or lawn, the water impact is basically zero since watering a lawn consumes 240 gallons per half hour!
-Shane
-Shane

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 19 May 2007, 08:27

apistomaster wrote:Sorry about introducing power issues into reusing dehumidifier water but they are so interelated.

Ib fact, I had the feeling that USA / Australia based forum members, being very carefull with water, ignored the fect thet water and electricity are very interrelated.

Electricity production uses water for cooling, and here, in NL, in a hot, dry summer electricity production sometimes comes into danger for lack of cooling (last year the plug almost went dead)

Thus using electricity to conserve water can - at least in some areas, reduce the available water further

grokefish · Post by **grokefish** » 19 May 2007, 20:58

Well water isn't an issue here in wales as anyone that has been here/lives here will tell you.
I'll be honest with you, for once I wasn't being a rambling tree hugging hippy, just a lazy git.
I wanted to know if I could pour the water from a dehumidifier, which is three feet away from the tank, into the tank rather than transporting it 100ft from the tap!
But it has set off a good conversation, very interesting stats. shane
I don't own a 1 gallon cup though

Wash the car?
What is this?
The shower bit is really interesting though. Many people, myself included, have showers as they supposedly use less water, but if you're in there for more than only eight minutes then thats that idea down the drain!
I say pah!to legionella flippertyflop, stinking kid that I was, me and my mates used to play down the rubbish dump when we were kids, rats and all, and we all get ill very infrequently,can't remember the last time I was actually, great fun, shooting TVs, finding stuff to make skateboard ramps with, cutting yourself to peices with the TV you just shot up, go home and a clip around the head for getting mud on the carpet, bargain.

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de-humidifier water

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