Can you use dehumidifier water for plants?

Nowadays people have started using less water for their work to avoid unnecessary water wastage, and if you are in this post then it means you are also among those people who don’t like to waste water.

However, you can also avoid unnecessary water wastage by recycling water whenever you can, and in this article, I am gonna cover “Can you use dehumidifier water for plants? or not?”

As you know by now that a dehumidifier work by removing excess humidity from the air inside our homes by freezing it out and collecting it in a residue tank.

Depending on the humidity level of your room/house you may need to empty your dehumidifier tank more often, and if you will able to find a way to use that water rather than throwing it then it will be a great use. Watering plants is also one of the things that you can do with the dehumidifier water.

But the question is…should you really use dehumidifier water for plants? or Not?

Well as long as you are not eating the plants you are good to go but if you planning to eat those plants then you shouldn’t since dehumidifier water contains contaminants such as fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms.

Sometimes the water may contain traces of metal ions that can harm your health and the plant’s growth.

Along with this topic, I will also be answering if the water collected by these appliances can be used elsewhere around the home and whether it’s the same as distilled water. So without further ado let’s just get into the topic and know everything you should know…

how does a dehumidifier work or collect water?

It is important to know how the dehumidifier works because after knowing the mechanism you can also understand where should you use the dehumidifier and where to not.

Basically, a dehumidifier works by extracting warm air currents into its coils via a fan. After that, the warm air contracts as it’s fed through the refrigerated coils of the machine, and condensation is left inside the dehumidifier.

While doing the process the condensation collects, one droplet of water at a time which falls into a storage tank that is attached to the dehumidifier. Later on a cooler, drier is then released back into your home through the other side of the machine.

So I hope now you realized…How a dehumidifier collects water and whether you can use it for eating purposes or not.

What’s in dehumidifier water?

As I said earlier that dehumidifiers work by cooling the air in your room so water condenses out of the air and into the dehumidifier’s water reservoir. Then the dehumidifier blows out the air through warm coils before blowing it back into the room.

You can also compare it with rain, just here it’s not distillation that involves boiling water, and makes water safe to drink. Since the water isn’t boiled, so any bacteria, mold, or dust that was in the air or sitting on the fan will be in the water when it gets to the humidifier reservoir.

Unfortunately, this is also one of the big reasons why you shouldn’t drink dehumidifier water or apply it to trees that are edible. 

Sometimes it can happen that contamination turns the dehumidifier water into a type of gray water, a term for water that has been “used” for some purpose, such as washing dishes or showering but does not contain sewage.

Even in rare cases, the heavy metals from the cooling coil might get absorbed into the dehumidifier water, and using it for eating purposes may cause many health issues. Other than this there are also people who say that the amount of copper, zinc, and aluminum in a dehumidifier’s water reservoir is minimal but exists.

Is dehumidifier water for plants a good idea?

Well as I said earlier in this article that dehumidifier water is good or bad always depends on what plants you’re talking about. If you are using the water for outside plants then there’s nothing wrong with it…just make sure that those plants are not edible.

Since 30% of drinkable water is used for watering outdoor plants so having dehumidifier water for the same use can preciously reduce a lot of water wastage.

Note: I already said this but again…don’t use the water for edible plants. More ever don’t ever use dehumidifier water for plants that can be eaten raw such as microgreens, salad greens, fresh herbs like basil and cilantro, and container-grown tomatoes.

FAQs

Q: Is dehumidifier water good for anything?

You can definitely use it to clean cars and other outdoor areas. Some people even use it to clean the interior of the house and wash hands, but for safety reasons, you may have to add some bleach to the water to kill any microorganisms present.

Q: Can water from a dehumidifier be used as distilled water?

Whether the water from the dehumidifier is drinkable or not, depends on how clean you keep your tank and how long the water has been sitting around. The water that the dehumidifier collects is actually very clean water; Comparable to distilled water.

However it is always better to not consume the water at any cost…so rather than drinking or eating indirectly, you should just use it for other purposes.