a/c condensation in pond?

17 years ago

I am a pond newbie - we put our first one in early this spring. It's just 7 ft in diameter, and 12 inches deep. We have a fountain that keeps the water moving, 5 happy goldfish and lots of plants. Everything is doing great and healthy, so I don't want to upset the apple cart, but I have a question. The pond is only a about 12 feet from where our air conditioner condensation tubes drain out of our house -- we live in Tennessee and the a/c unit is on alot during the summer and produces a constant drip, drip, drip. Just wondering -- would it be safe for the pond to direct this into the pond when it needs topping off? I'd like to re-use the water if it's safe (it's producing a bit of a bog in my garden).

Thanks for any info!

Tina

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bwaze

17 years ago

When my friend first built her pond she had her air conditioner near her pond and it dripped into it. All her fish died. She re-stocked, they all died. I can ask her what it was from the air conditioner that killed the fish but I know it was that. She warned me when I was planning my pond.

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Comments (6)

pondbucket
17 years ago
But if there isn't another contaminant entering the AC's discharge then I cannot imagine what would cause a kill... condensate is water, dirty coils are/is dirt. A strange and unusual bacteria on the coils is the only thing, I guess.
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drh1
17 years ago
Several things are wrong with A/C condensate water. First is that it has ZERO buffering capacity; no alkalinity....NONE. While it is "sort of" distilled water it isn't really that pure. Yes there may be some weird bacteria growing in the coils or in the discharge line but that wouldn't be my first suspect of choice. A second issue is that the pH will be slightly acid. This wouldn't bother your pond initially since the buffering you started with would take care of it. But sooner or later it will drop the pH in the pond. Third issue would be metals and organic from the evaporator and the drain line. Again, not a lot at first but as it continues to drip into your pond....well, you get the picture.
Your condensate is probably fine for using in you steam iron but I wouldn't put it in my pond.
---David
tcahalan
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for all the replies everyone -- I guess I won't take the risk of the free water and will instead, just go wtih it! I'm going to plant a little bog garden and just enjoy a new type of gardening.
drh1
17 years ago
Just to put a bit of perspective on this: my condensate rate off one of our A/C units runs approximately 1 quart per hour (depending on humidity, outside temp., etc.). Given what they charge for water around here and the fact that a portion of that is charged for sewer fees as well the net savings per month would be approximately $2.70 per month. And by the way, the metal contaminants I mentioned above...the ones I most suspect are in there would be copper and aluminum. But what the heck... fish may not survive but you probably wouldn't have too much of algae problem either!! LOL.
---David
Rick Shiley
4 years ago
I collect condensate in a large olive barrel buried in the ground. When it is full I use a sump pump to transfer it to my water garden. All at . Been doing this for over 30 years. All fish, all frogs, all tadpoles and all plants have always been fine.