Recent talk of watermakers on another list got me thinking about an idea I came
up with on may last trip to the Bahamas. And as I well know, few ideas are
original, I thought I would run it by you folks and see what you think of it.
And whether anyone had tried it or seen it tried.

While sitting in the Exumas I got to thinking about how nice it would be to
have a watermaker while at the same time weighing the pros and cons of the cost
and maintenance involved.
At that point I started thinking about all the condensation water my A/Cs were
making and how it was just going overboard and being wasted. So I started to
wondering about setting up the condensation pans to drain into a shower sump
and pumping that water, perhaps using a higher pressure pump than the small
bilge pumps that come in most shower sumps, through a media/charcoal filter and
then through an ultraviolet sterilizer and into one of my water tanks.
A shower sump and an ultraviolet sterilizer along with the hoses and fittings
would be much cheaper and lower in maintenance than a watermaker.

The A/Cs can make 5 gallons or more condensation water in a 24 hour day. And I
have 3 units so I'm looking at, at least 10-15 gallons of "free" water per day.
And on part of the last trip to the Bahamas there were 5 of us on board and we
made 120 gallons of water last 7+ days no problem.
So at that rate, 10 gallons or more of condensation water per day would be as
good as a watermaker for me.

So, what do you think?
Has anybody tried it? Down sides? Problems you can for see?

While searching around the web I did run into this:
http://www.waterfromair.com/index.php


Capt. Bill

LaBomba182 wrote:
Recent talk of watermakers on another list got me thinking about an idea I came
up with on may last trip to the Bahamas. And as I well know, few ideas are
original, I thought I would run it by you folks and see what you think of it.
And whether anyone had tried it or seen it tried.

While sitting in the Exumas I got to thinking about how nice it would be to
have a watermaker while at the same time weighing the pros and cons of the cost
and maintenance involved.
At that point I started thinking about all the condensation water my A/Cs were
making and how it was just going overboard and being wasted. So I started to
wondering about setting up the condensation pans to drain into a shower sump
and pumping that water, perhaps using a higher pressure pump than the small
bilge pumps that come in most shower sumps, through a media/charcoal filter and
then through an ultraviolet sterilizer and into one of my water tanks.

I think this is a great idea. It sounds like it would definitely be
cheaper, less bulky, and less maintenance than a RO water maker. You
could run a rain collector into the same set-up.


The A/Cs can make 5 gallons or more condensation water in a 24 hour day. And I
have 3 units so I'm looking at, at least 10-15 gallons of "free" water per day.
And on part of the last trip to the Bahamas there were 5 of us on board and we
made 120 gallons of water last 7+ days no problem.
So at that rate, 10 gallons or more of condensation water per day would be as
good as a watermaker for me.

So, what do you think?
Has anybody tried it? Down sides? Problems you can for see?

The only problem I can see is that it limited to summer and hot climates
when you're running the A/C (how many hours per day do you run the
genset?) and is dependent on high humidity.


While searching around the web I did run into this:
http://www.waterfromair.com/index.php

Neat idea but I'm suspicious of a "water magnet" and the durn thing
costs $1K... you can buy about 1,250 gallons of distilled water at the
grocery store for that.

Fair Skies
Doug King

Subject: "Free" fresh water?
From: DSK

LaBomba182 wrote:
Recent talk of watermakers on another list got me thinking about an idea I
came
up with on may last trip to the Bahamas. And as I well know, few ideas are
original, I thought I would run it by you folks and see what you think of
it.
And whether anyone had tried it or seen it tried.

While sitting in the Exumas I got to thinking about how nice it would be to
have a watermaker while at the same time weighing the pros and cons of the
cost
and maintenance involved.
At that point I started thinking about all the condensation water my A/Cs
were
making and how it was just going overboard and being wasted. So I started
to
wondering about setting up the condensation pans to drain into a shower
sump
and pumping that water, perhaps using a higher pressure pump than the small
bilge pumps that come in most shower sumps, through a media/charcoal filter
and
then through an ultraviolet sterilizer and into one of my water tanks.

I think this is a great idea. It sounds like it would definitely be
cheaper, less bulky, and less maintenance than a RO water maker. You
could run a rain collector into the same set-up.


Yeah, I thought of that one while taking a "rain" shower under the run off from
the top deck. :-)



The A/Cs can make 5 gallons or more condensation water in a 24 hour day.
And I
have 3 units so I'm looking at, at least 10-15 gallons of "free" water per
day.
And on part of the last trip to the Bahamas there were 5 of us on board and
we
made 120 gallons of water last 7+ days no problem.
So at that rate, 10 gallons or more of condensation water per day would be
as
good as a watermaker for me.

So, what do you think?
Has anybody tried it? Down sides? Problems you can for see?

The only problem I can see is that it limited to summer and hot climates
when you're running the A/C (how many hours per day do you run the
genset?) and is dependent on high humidity.

GenSet run time? In the Bahamas, in the summer, 24 hours a day baby! :-)


Capt. Bill

Years ago I had the idea of watering my plants with condensate from my
dehumidifier. (At the time I was buying distilled water for that purpose.)
Someone knowledgeable told me the condensate was toxic. I have no
recollection of why that was (or even why I was watering my plants with
distilled water, for that matter) or if your filters would help at all; but
the idea is so obvious that it would be done if practical.

John wrote:
Years ago I had the idea of watering my plants with condensate from my
dehumidifier. (At the time I was buying distilled water for that purpose.)
Someone knowledgeable told me the condensate was toxic. I have no
recollection of why that was (or even why I was watering my plants with
distilled water, for that matter) or if your filters would help at all; but
the idea is so obvious that it would be done if practical.

Every now and then an idea is too obvious for anyone to think of doing
it...till someone finally does, and the rest of the world says "oh
duh...why didn't I think of that?" Even if the water collected weren't
potable-safe, it could still be used for other purposes to conserve the
potable supply.
--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/p...40&cat=&page=1

On Sunday 24 October 2004 4:17 pm in rec.boats.cruising John wrote:

Years ago I had the idea of watering my plants with condensate from my
dehumidifier. (At the time I was buying distilled water for that
purpose.)
Someone knowledgeable told me the condensate was toxic. I have no
recollection of why that was (or even why I was watering my plants with
distilled water, for that matter) or if your filters would help at all;
but the idea is so obvious that it would be done if practical.

The condensate contains all of the pollutants which were
in the air. By recycling the condensate you will be
continually concentrating these pollutants into your
drinking water. This is a BAD idea.

Sweaty people + cooking byproducts being concentrated
with each recycling - YUK.

--
My real address is crn (at) netunix (dot) com
WARNING all messages containing attachments or html will be silently
deleted. Send only plain text.

The condensate contains all of the pollutants which were
in the air. By recycling the condensate you will be
continually concentrating these pollutants into your
drinking water. This is a BAD idea.

nice thought, but you breath in much more raw polluted air than if you drank a
glass of that condenser water that has been run though a purifier ....

besides, that distilled water you are buying...chances are it was reclaimed
from a sewage treatment center before being refiltered at the distillary.

something to think about

The condensate contains all of the pollutants which were
in the air. By recycling the condensate you will be
continually concentrating these pollutants into your
drinking water. This is a BAD idea.


BSCHNAUTZ wrote:
nice thought, but you breath in much more raw polluted air than if you drank a
glass of that condenser water that has been run though a purifier ....

besides, that distilled water you are buying...chances are it was reclaimed
from a sewage treatment center before being refiltered at the distillary.

something to think about

I have the feeling that neither of you understand what distilling or
evaporating actually is.

At some point in history, all water on the Earth, including what's
currently locked in the ice caps, has been excreted by some animal...
possibly dinosaurs...

Something to think about.

DSK

A dino on the rocks sounds like a great drink either with or without lime or
lemon.

At some point in history, all water on the Earth, including what's
currently locked in the ice caps, has been excreted by some animal...
possibly dinosaurs...

Something to think about.

I read that in each breath you take in 1000 oxygen molecules that Alexander
the Great also breathed.
Presumably that goes back to dinosaurs also.