is the water from a dehumidifier safe to drink

Should You Drink Water from Your Dehumidifier? A Safety Guide

In an era of climate change and water scarcity, reusing and recycling water is crucial. Dehumidifiers seem to offer an easy source of free drinking water. But is dehumidifier water actually safe for human consumption? Let’s analyze the risks and best practices around drinking dehumidifier condensate.

How Dehumidifiers WorkDehumidifiers remove excess moisture from indoor air to maintain ideal humidity levels A fan draws air over cold refrigerated coils, causing water vapor to condense into liquid water that drips into a collection tank This condensation process yields pure water, as the vapor leaves impurities behind when it evaporates initially. However, purity doesn’t last long.

Water Safety Concerns
The water may start pure, but quickly accumulates contaminants from the dehumidifier components. Bacteria, dirt, and residues build up on the coils, fans, and storage tank. The stale water then becomes a breeding ground for microbes. Even in clean units, water picks up metals like lead from parts like refrigerant tubing and solder joints. Fungal spores floating in room air also get concentrated in the condensate.

While using dehumidifier water for cleaning or gardening is usually safe, drinking it poses health risks. Consuming the untreated water could introduce dangerous substances like lead, pathogenic bacteria like Legionella, and toxic molds. The stagnant tank also fertilizes growth of algae and biofilms. Without purification, dehumidifier water is decidedly unsafe for drinking. Even very small amounts of lead or bacterial contamination can cause major illness.

Purification Methods

Boiling: Bringing water to a rolling boil for 1-3 minutes kills most microbes, but does not remove heavy metals or chemicals.

Filtration: Devices like pitcher filters, reverse osmosis systems, and deionization units effectively remove contaminants, but can be expensive.

Distillation: Heating water into steam, then collecting and cooling the condensate removes impurities through phase change. But distillers have high energy costs.

Ultraviolet irradiation: UV light disinfects microbes but does not extract physical or chemical pollution.

Ozonation: Ozone kills most bacteria, viruses, and cysts, and helps oxidize metals, pesticides, and detergents. But it produces toxic byproducts if not fully removed later.

Chlorination: Chlorine bleach solution inactivates pathogens but also generates harmful disinfection byproducts.

Iodine: Liquid or tablet forms release iodine that destroys microorganisms but can be toxic in high doses.

The only guaranteed safe methods are distillation, advanced filtration, or combination systems. But the time, effort, and costs often outweigh the benefits of such intensive processing for dehumidifier water.

The Verdict

In most cases, drinking dehumidifier water is inadvisable even if boiled. Multiple studies have detected concerning levels of lead, bacteria, and biofilms. Effective purification is complex, expensive, and cumbersome for the relatively small volumes collected. The health gamble simply isn’t worth it.

However, dehumidifier water has many other smart uses around the house. You can use it for cleaning, laundry, gardening, and more. Just avoid applications involving food, hygiene, or drinking. And always unplug and thoroughly clean units per manufacturer instructions to minimize contaminant accumulation.

While tantalizing, relying on dehumidifier water as a drinking source is risky compared to proven purification methods. For usable drinking water, invest in an optimized filtration setup, enhanced boiling, or distillation system. Or simply use the dehumidifier collection tank for non-potable water reuse. Your health is too precious to gamble with sketchy water sources.