Why Waste the Condensation From Your Central A/C Unit?

by The Garden Frog with C Renee

For 2 (or is it 3) years now I have watched my markdown rack Black Magic elephant ears or Colocasia thrive from the runoff from my a/c drain. It has spread by runners and just keeps spreading in an area that has been barren for many years.
We have a good friend who has been doing A/C work for 20 something years and so I went with him with this question-"why do they put the drain for the a/c right next to the house?" He said to me "it is the easiest thing to do". HMMMM
so I asked him "can I put an extension on it and run it away from the house?" I told him that I do not feel it is good for the foundation to have it there and besides I said it is a waste of water! He told me as long as the extension runs away from the house and lets the water drain, there should be no problem.
With that great news I ran to Lowe's and purchases the same size pvc pipe and fittings (already had glue and cleaner) and went to work extending my drain about 5 foot away from the house. Wow, so much water comes out! I also cleaned out the line with my air compressor and found some pretty disgusting globs coming out...and so now I try and remember to clean it once a year.
Happy gardening everyone & be sure to check out my blog!

why waste the condensation from your central a c unit, gardening

mid June 2014-I started with one Colocasia or Black magic bulb. They do spread by runners too.

See how I put a 45 degree fitting on and then extended the pipe out and then I had to put another 45 to flow it away from the house.

Last summer

Last fall

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 5 comments

Douglas Hunt on Jul 01, 2014
Smart thinking! I wonder if anyone has calculated how much of this type of water is wasted?

1 Reply
- The Garden Frog with C Renee on Jul 01, 2014
  @Douglas Hunt I know that it is was at least a gallon that flowed while I was cleaning out the pipe this spring and re-digging the hole and putting in fresh rock. I never realized how much water runs out of an a/c unit until I did this.
  
  Like
McKennon Farell on Oct 02, 2014
For any type of waste, keep it as far as possible from your home and it is great that you did it for the drain from your a/c! By doing so, you are not only protecting the foundation of your house with moist being constant in that section, but also keeping your garden waste-free!

1 Reply