Water Conservation in Farming

Air conditioning Condensate for Hydroponics

As water becomes scarcer throughout the world, some building owners are recycling their air conditioner’s condensation. This is known as condensate recovery. In hot climates, air conditioners produce an extraordinary amount of condensation. In fact, the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, located in the desert city of Dubai, produces fifty-one million gallons of condensation per year.

Here’s an unexpected source of water for the Hydroponic garden: An air conditioner’s condensation pipe.This is an idea that should be implemented but is not used much at all.If you live in a hot and humid climate, you know that a lot of water condenses in your AC and then usually drains through a plastic or metal pipe to some point just outside the house. The hotter it gets outside, the more the AC runs, and the more water the AC makes. As the summer progresses, it gets hotter, and the plants will need more water. This system helps, providing more water when it is needed most.Condensate is essentially distilled water, low in mineral content, but may contain bacteria.

No matter what kind of air conditioner you have, whole house or window box, it drains water that you can capture. Each time an air conditioner runs, it pulls moisture from the air inside the home. Since the water has to go somewhere, it’s drained outside the house, usually through a condensation pipe.On a hot and humid day, a window unit can drip up to 2 gallons of water, which accumulates on its evaporator coil as it cools and dehumidifies the air. (Very little condensation gathers on the exterior side of an AC, which tends to be warmer than the air around it.)

The quality of this water is essentially the same as distilled water; mineral free and a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level of near zero.The quantity of condensate water produced depends on the temperature and humidity conditions (both outdoors and indoors) and the amount of cooling being provided. Guz has developed a rule of thumb for large buildings in the summer months of 0.1 to 0.3 gallons (0.4–1.1 l) of condensate per ton of air conditioning for every hour that the cooling system operates.

In the residential sector, this water should be used similar to harvested rainwater.The amount of condensate that a split system air conditioner generates depends on the relative humidity on the day, but rest assured, this amount is more than what most people think!

Please see the table below, which specifies the maximum amount of condensate water that each capacity of split system air conditioner will generate.

Capacity 2.5kW 3.6kW 4.4kW 5.2kW 6.3kW 7.1kW 8.0kW
Litres per hour 1.6L 2.0L 2.4L 2.8L 3.5L 4.1L 4.7L

Air Conditioning Condensate Calculator: buildinggreen.com/calc/calc_condensate.cfm

My 1Ton AC 2 nos is sufficient to feed my water requirement for my hydroponic garden at home.

Log on to facebook.com/pages/Chennai- … f=hl for more info.We can supply equipment and nutrient for Hydroponics.

M.Dakshina

Dakshina thanks for bringing up this wonderful topic with some good references hope people in india would follow up.