Using a Rain Barrel to Collect Condensate From Your Air Conditioner!

DeeDee
by DeeDee
$30.00
45 Minutes
Easy
The a/c causes lots of condensation that just runs out onto the ground. From what I've read, condensate water from the a/c is 99% pure clear water, no chemicals, just a bit of dust! Why not catch it and use it? We did just that! Here's how we did it.
It took right at a full week to gather a barrel full of water. That's approximately 55 gallons of water that would have otherwise jut gone onto the ground. Now we use it to water all the little plants and the garden!
This is our final product and it works perfectly! Why didn't we think of this a long time ago? We don't know, but I'm glad my honey decided he wanted to try and catch the dripping water.
These barrels are actually all one piece, no lid to take off so you can get to the inside. Using a reciprocating saw, cut the "lid" off. As you can see, this barrel was nasty! After it was open, it got a good scrubbing with soap and water.
You can get the the whole story and a list of supplies on our blog and then just follow the step by step directions for installing the spigot. Remember to add the Teflon tape to the spigot for a better seal.
We used a piece of screening to filter out any unwanted yuck into our water barrel.
Next, my honey used the hole saw again and made some drain holes in the lid just in case it rained, the barrel would catch the water. Double duty!
The lid is actually turned upside down. It makes a perfectly snug fit to hold the screen in place.
To raise the barrel off the ground, my honey built a stand using left over 2x4s, 4x4s and some more of our fence pickets. That's another post though! The stand was necessary so we could get a water can under the spigot to use the water we'd gathered.
DeeDee
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Michael Michael on Aug 21, 2014
    Summer, in the south, or other high humidity areas, you can expect 30 - 50 gallons a day.
  • Jen Jen on Jun 17, 2019

    Good idea!

    I have this problem at my old rent house, in a tight corner where the roof also sluices rain water over the gutter and they added the heat pump fan.

    So now the wood siding is rotting even faster, and I have a constant mosquito pond up to and under the house.

    Think I can pull a squared off bucket (aka kitty litter pail) out of storage, top it off w/ window screen, and just use it to water flower beds in front of the house where the hoses don't reach.

    • DeeDee DeeDee on Jun 19, 2019

      Hi Jen! That is a great idea! We actually used a kitty litter bucket in the beginning too! It filled up really fast and the rest is history! :)

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