Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Guys,

I have a ducted evaporative air conditioning unit at home which dumps a large amount of water during summer when it's on. My house is fairly cool in summer anyway due to it's design, insulation and colour scheme, but I feel mega guilty when I hear it drop a big gush of water out onto the floor every time I turn it off.

Does anyone know if there is any reason that I couldn't use this water either a) to top up the pond which is losing heaps of water at the moment (not sure if it's a leak somewhere or just evaporation), or b) to at least water my garden (50% of which is probably edibles).

It's not like the water stays in the unit/pipes for that long, as it's quite a new house and aircon but I wasn't sure if there was a reason not to use it, or at least not to use it on produce/fish? Everyone seems to just let theirs dump onto the ground but I was starting to feel like a sheep for doing the same.

I know I'd certainly get enough out of it to keep a few top up tanks over summer for the pond, or to drain to the garden beds on a semi-regular basis.

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IMHO - good for garden - questionable for AP..

only say questionable, because of the use of Aluminium and Copper in condensers and evaporators,
and there are those declaring these metals to be concerning for the fushes..
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It's an evaporative system, no condensers and basically runs tap water over battons which then a fan draws air through into the house. The water is delivered via copper pipes but I doubt the short contact time and small top ups would be an issue.

I see no problem.

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Charlie - Thanks for that.. I missed the evaporative part..
but don't you normally add something to the water to prevent fungal buildup..???
Is the supporting frame for the device all plastic.. ?

Most Evap Coolers that I recall, had galvanised steel parts, containing the wet "Media"
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Schweet! Thanks gents!
I will grab a few barrels and a tap fitting this week then
Come February we'll get a whole lot more of the 40+ days like today, and every extra drop will be a bonus!

BD, I don't think anything extra is added as the water is flushed so regularly, and none sits in the pipes/system when it is off. But I'm not 100% sure.
No idea what the supporting frame is made of, but I drank tonnes of water out of a galvanised tank as a kid before anyone aquaplated them and I seem to be jkdgfjdfg fine djhfkj
Might have to drag out the booklet.

Personally I would not use it for AP only the garden, this is not due to the constructional materials but due to the fact it tends to concentrate crap flying around in the air.
And if you think Perth air is clean try standing on the hills and see the smog haze covering the city

all good then.... but







and guys on here CLAIM that they have had fish die-offs, when water flowed from a gal roof..

Eh... I am with you on the gal tank thing, but this is AP, and those claiming more experience than us CLAIM zinc is a NoNo so it becomes a case of who do you listen to..

As for run off.. that is something that I have a difficulty with.. Evap. Air Cooling uses water to cool the air.. so HOW do you get more water..
and IF the humidity is massive, then you get no cooling and even more humid air that B4..


Are you sure it is not a combination Evap/RAC system, that uses EVAP to pre-cool and heat-pump to re-cool/dehumidify and return the water to the EVAP process..

As I said, I just cant see a classic Evap system delivering excess water ----- UNLESS the demand valve is leaking, allowing more than enough water into the sump and then draining the excess..

and supporting the comment on NOT using the water for AP - I too would hesitate because of the concentration of air-born contaminants - -- seriously just NOT worth the risk... IMHO

PS - at the risk of repeating myself... They call them Evaporative Coolers, because they USE water to evaporate and thus reduce the air temp... How can such a cooler deliver excess water..?
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A brand and model number would clear up the type of air conditioner confusion, as would a photo

Evap coolers have a water dump cycle and bleed off, this is to prevent a build up of salts from the evaporated water.

Also when not in use the tank is kept empty to stop things like legionnaires and such forming in an inactive unit.

Modern evap coolers are almost all plastic on the wet parts.

the water discharged is a few times more salty than tap water, and fine for gardens etc, don't know about AP systems?

Sleepe is right the evap unit will filter the crap out of the air and collect it in the water tank.

most have a dump cycle, and during prolonged use they flush regularly.
I have had evap in 3 houses and mine put out 20-40L at point of turning off.
Mostly the flush water is pretty good if you run the system regularly, though it has more crap when used less frequently.

They flush regularly for health and system reasons - to avoid bacteria build up in tray, to flush crap from the pads and to avoid concentration of minerals and salts. Some are adjustable but as a rule they tend to dump fairly good water direct from mains.




I have always collected mine in a drum at the usual pipe going nowhere and then piped it to garden.
Currently I have a 25L storage in 1.4m or so of 150mm pipe that gives good head to push it along.

I would not suggest putting it directly in AP. You really want to filter the water anyway, just as you do for rainwater. Most crap ends up at either top and bottom.

So sending to a storage like a drum or rain tank being used on garden and then topping up AP from there with mixture of water is a better option IMO than feeding direct.

Is there chlorine, chloramine, or fluoride in your tap water? As I suspect that is where your evap gets it's water from.

Yep I agree with Sleepe and Slowboat, good for the garden not so good for AP due to the salts build up and often when serviced, which should be done biannually, chlorine tablets or similar are added to the basin for bacterial control.
I too have always thought of it as a waste of water and can't see the sense of their drains being plumbed into waste drains especially when we are in a water starved country.
Condensate from refrigerated units is also fine for the garden but not good for the AP due to the bacterial build up and the coil cleaners used during maintenance visits.

Very naughtily mine hasn't been serviced in 4 years, which I will do now that I've thought about it, but I'll also leave the water for the garden then. I'm sure it will appreciate the extra lovin' in February!


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We had Evap systems in Kal but the water overflowed consistently out of a hose that we connected a retic sprinkler to and just moved it around the yard to water the grass. For years I left this hose in my AP tank during summer without any issues.

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Perhaps - just perhaps.... it is an intentional feature of such systems, that they trickle water WHENEVER they are operating, thus ensuring two things... first that there is water for the Evap. Process, and then that the water is purged on a constant basis, thus minimising build ups and other problems associated with virtual stagnation..

I have NEVER played with them as we have always lived on the coast, where they rarely ever work..
( except for a trolley model, in Melb, and it used wood shavings as the evap. material and it got a bit rank after a few years of poor use.. I think it helped when the girls were small babies..

If the consensus is that THEY DO LEAK water (ie run off) then perhaps it would be OK for AP if you were confident of the general construction of the modules...
At least you would not have to worrie about Chlorine, as the water would be seriously exposed to air-flow..

As I suggested, the only system that took my fancy was the combination Evap/Heat Pump, which just seemed so logical..

You could try tasting that run-off, and seeing if it tasted like pure snow run-off.. :-)
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