Condensed water from Air Con units?

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Does anyone know how safe the water is that drips down from Air Conditioning units? I know you can use it to water household plants, but is it safe to drink?

The reason I am asking:

I feed and water a number of feral cats outside my house. In the Mid East it gets up to over 55 degrees C in summer. If I fill their water dish before work (with BOTTLED water, as our tap water is desalinated sea water), it evapourates SO quickly, and they will be very thirsty in summer.

I leave a few of my Air Cons running all day whilst I am am work, and there is a constant trickle of condensed water running out. So I thought if I put a large basin under a couple of them, the cats could drink the water and they would have a constant supply.

Would this be safe for them?

[smokey the elder]

Condensation starts out as very pure water. What is your air conditioner made out of? The only hazard would be something leachable from the air conditioner case. If it's made out of steel, aluminum or plastic it should be fine. The other thing to watch out for is mold and stuff growing in the water if it's standing. But if it's 55 C it's hard for anything to grow.

[L. Wayne]

Condensed water from an air conditioner coils is pure water. The only contaminates would be any collected dirt or mold that may be growing inside. As long as the water path is clean, there should be no troubles. To clean, take off the A/C's case or the front, and brush down with a paint brush or some other impliment that can reach the coils and bottom, and flush out with regular tap water.

...........wayne

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Hi,
Thanks for your responses. Ive got hold of some flexible tubing, which should fit over the "drain pipe" leading out of the air con, so I can funnel the water into a drinking basin, and put it in the shade also.

I suppose, bearing in mind that the only other source of water they will have in summer is the run-off from the sprinklers (which is slightly de-salinated sea water) then the water from my air-con will be a good alternative. The other advantage is that there will be a steady supply all day, so hopefully it will not totally evaporate. Then on the weekends I can give the basin good scrub and clean.

It just gets SO hot here in summer, and I feel SO sorry for the strays - it must be terrible for them to be hnugry and thirsty, and them come accross big bowls of dry cat food, but no water!

So hopefully we now have a solution!