How To Make Dehumidifier Water Drinkable

In this article, we will find out how to make dehumidifier water drinkable. We will not directly tell you to drink this water, but we will find out whether you can.

In another post, we saw that you can use dehumidifier water to water plants, without causing them any harm.

But first…

Can you drink dehumidifier water?

Well, you should not! At least, not until you know that this water can be purified. But when push comes to shove, I would say that it is better not to drink this water.

It is best to use it for other things, such as watering your indoor plants, cleaning stuff, and so on.

• Dehumidifier water is not purified. It is just condensed and collected
• This water passes through the dehumidifier coils, which are made of metal. Thus, there is the risk of having metal leach into the water
• Dehumidifier water might contain bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold spores and other contaminants
• If you have been cleaning the dehumidifier bucket with vinegar or bleach, traces of the cleaning product can find their way into the water.

There are a few reasons why you should not drink dehumidified water. But at the same time, perhaps, for the sake of the experiment, you can find out how to purify dehumidifier water.

That is what we will look at in the following section.

How to Purify Dehumidifier Water

First, before you do anything else, you need to decide beforehand whether you are going to drink dehumidifier water.

If you have decided to test whether water from a dehumidifier is potable, clean the dehumidifier thoroughly. You can use vinegar to clean out mold from the dehumidifier bucket. You can also clean it with bleach (BUT NEVER TOGETHER WITH VINEGAR!).

Rinse it thoroughly. Also, clean the dehumidifier filter.

But still, this does not mean that the water the dehumidifier will collect will be pure and ready to drink. To make dehumidified water drinkable, you will have to purify it further.

Follow the steps below to try and make dehumidifier water drinkable.

Boil the water

Boiling the dehumidifier water is the first step if you want to attempt to purify it. Boiling the water is going to kill algae, fungi, germs, and other contaminants.

Some sources advise you to boil water for at least 3 minutes. Others advise you to boil the water for 10 minutes or more. Some suggest that you should boil the water at 165°F (73°C).

But boiling is not going to remove any heavy metals. While you do not know whether the water contains any such metals, you do not want to take chances.

Filter the water

Some people ask: Can you filter dehumidifier water to drink? After boiling the water, you need to filter it.

One of the most popular filters is the Brita filter. But can you use the Brita filter to make the dehumidifier’s water potable?

That is what you need to find out from the manufacturers of this filter.

A filter works by allowing water to pass through very tiny holes while leaving the contaminants behind. However, will the heavy metal contaminants stay behind?

If you have ascertained that your dehumidifier leaches heavy metal contaminants into the water, you might want to try a different method.

Try the chemical precipitation method. And no, we won’t even go there because, as you can see, trying to make dehumidifier water potable keeps getting more complicated.

There is no need to go to all this trouble to drink water from a dehumidifier unless you are lost in the desert and dehumidifier water is all you have. But anyway, why would you need a dehumidifier in the hot desert air?

How To Make Dehumidified Water Drinkable: FAQ

Is dehumidified water safe to drink? No matter what other sources tell you, do not drink this water. Rather, you can put it to so many other uses, such as cleaning your car, flushing the toilet, washing clothes, and so on.

But first, these commonly asked questions might shed light regarding drinking dehumidifier water:

Can you drink water from a dehumidifier if you boil it?

It is best not to because boiling dehumidifier water may kill fungi, algae, mold spores, bacteria, and other contaminants.

However, it is never going to remove heavy metals. If you consume such water, you will be consuming metals and minerals too.

Can dogs drink water from a dehumidifier?

No, this would not be advisable at all. If you cannot drink the water yourself, there is no reason why you would want to feed your dog with it.

If you leave the water from the dehumidifier lying around anywhere, your dog might drink it without your knowledge.

That’s why it is best to train the dog to only eat and drink from specific bowls. The bucket where the dehumidifier collects the water after drawing it from the air is not human-grade or pet-grade.

Why is it bad to drink water from a dehumidifier?

Water purification is an intense process, and it is hard to run it at home unless you are a chemistry freak. Thus, drinking water from a dehumidifier just because you have boiled it or filtered it does not guarantee safety.

Can I filter water from a dehumidifier?

You can if you have a filtration system at home. But since you have no means of testing for the presence of heavy metals in the water, filtering it might not make the water 100 percent safe.

Can birds drink dehumidified water?

There is no reason why they should not. However, first, make sure that your dehumidifier’s metal components are not leaching into the water. Usually, this happens if the dehumidifier is too old.

Conclusion

That is it for how to make dehumidifier water drinkable. Tell you what… On very rare occasions, you could use dehumidifier water for cooking, but make sure you have purified it to the best of your ability.

Also, this should never be a long-term thing, just a once-only thing.