Is this safe?
#1
09-15-07, 07:29 PM
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 13
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Is this safe?
My sister has a window air conditioner. She collects the water that drips from it to give to her cats and dogs. Is this safe for the animials?
#2
09-15-07, 07:40 PM
perfectly safe unless something happens to the unit like a sealed system leak or maybe a capacitor oil leak then the condensate water may contain refrigerant/capacitor oil. Not sure how much it would take to make a animal sick, maybe not much or heck it might be good for them kinda like vitamins you think?
#3
09-16-07, 08:43 AM
Member
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Rochester, Minnesota
Posts: 16,984
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
It maybe ok, just depends on how clean the unit itself inside..
I used to use it to water plants when I was younger. Mom had TONS of plants then.. so it was "free" water for the plants.. Just like rain.
I used to use it to water plants when I was younger. Mom had TONS of plants then.. so it was "free" water for the plants.. Just like rain.
#4
09-16-07, 10:39 AM
Super Moderator
I would say it could be potentially unsafe..
The water that comes from an air conditioner is condensed from the air and will be clean when it drips from the evaporator coil.
The problem could come when it filters through the drain line and runs through the unit.
From having cleaned many I don't know if I would want to chance that the water would be running through dead bugs and atmospheric grunge.
I wonder why she would do this?
The water that comes from an air conditioner is condensed from the air and will be clean when it drips from the evaporator coil.
The problem could come when it filters through the drain line and runs through the unit.
From having cleaned many I don't know if I would want to chance that the water would be running through dead bugs and atmospheric grunge.
I wonder why she would do this?
#6
09-17-07, 03:37 PM
I wonder if your friend would consider drinking that water. She might consider having the water tested to see what's in it. I would think it's unsafe. After all, Legionnaire's disease has come from contaminated air conditioning water. There can also be a buildup of minerals in the water that can cause health problems for cats.
Newt
Newt
#7
09-17-07, 05:12 PM
My old buddy the sprinkler fitter has a construction jobsite trailer on site at a construction job. He has run a drain line from his Bard wall unit into his tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket. The Tomato plant looks a bit scraggly but has a few tomatos on it, so far noone has had the courage to try to eat one i am sure they would be a delicacy. Oh by the way Phils nickname is Mater man on the jobsite. Problem with condensate drainage is that the water can and will pull contaminates off the coil including solder flux residue and other coil manufacturing type chemicals plus the aluminum has several components that can and will break down and leech into the water. That cat will probably grow a extra tail before long.
#10
09-18-07, 08:42 AM
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 13
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Thanks
I will pass this info onto my sister and let her decided whether to keep doing it or not. Thanks for the help.
#11
09-23-07, 01:20 PM
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Africa
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
I had a few chickens at the previous home I stayed, and had a window air conditioner. The chickens drank the water that came from it (that's why I never bothered putting water out for them).
They never seemed to have any problems except for having a dozen or so chicks every now and again. Perhaps that water is like viagra for animals. Better take that cat to the vet...
They never seemed to have any problems except for having a dozen or so chicks every now and again. Perhaps that water is like viagra for animals. Better take that cat to the vet...
