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dehumidifier water in glazes

updated fri 3 aug 01

 

Nikki Simmons on tue 31 jul 01


Okay, I know I am not supposed to drink the water from my dehumidifier. So
I was thinking I might use it in my glazes instead of distilled water. I
found one post in the archives about dehumidifier water being used in
glazes. Does anyone else do this? Is there a reason not to do this?

Sincerely,
Nikki Simmons
nsimmons@mid-mo.net

Ian Macmillan on tue 31 jul 01


I do this routinely. Works well for me, and I would think it is a
reasonably good mimic for distilled. On the other hand, maybe the
minerals in tap water contribute in some interesting but subtle way
to the glaze.

Earl - I think you are confusing this with a humidifier.

Ian


>Okay, I know I am not supposed to drink the water from my dehumidifier. So
>I was thinking I might use it in my glazes instead of distilled water. I
>found one post in the archives about dehumidifier water being used in
>glazes. Does anyone else do this? Is there a reason not to do this?
>
>Sincerely,
>Nikki Simmons
>nsimmons@mid-mo.net
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.

Earl Brunner on tue 31 jul 01


By dehumidifier water you mean the water left in a dehumidifier that is
removed at some point after a lot of water has evaporated? In this case
it would depend a lot on the source water. What ever soluble minerals
are in the source water will be there only in much greater
concentration. This may or may not have serious consequences on your
glazes depending on what the minerals are and in what concentration.


Nikki Simmons wrote:

> Okay, I know I am not supposed to drink the water from my dehumidifier. So
> I was thinking I might use it in my glazes instead of distilled water. I
> found one post in the archives about dehumidifier water being used in
> glazes. Does anyone else do this? Is there a reason not to do this?
>
> Sincerely,
> Nikki Simmons
> nsimmons@mid-mo.net
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>

--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec/
bruec@anv.net

Snail Scott on tue 31 jul 01


Nikki Simmons wrote:
>...water from my dehumidifier. So I was thinking
>I might use it in my glazes instead of distilled water...

Earl Brunner wrote:
>By dehumidifier water you mean the water left in a dehumidifier that is
>removed at some point after a lot of water has evaporated? In this case
>it would depend a lot on the source water....


Sounds like you mean 'humidifier', Earl. (We don't
see a lot of de-humidifiers out our way, Nikki!
I'm guessing you live in one of those damp places.)

Seems to me that if these 'de-humidifiers' that
Nikki was referring to are designed to remove water
vapor from the air, the 'source water' would be
atmospheric humidity, and the resulting water would
be pretty close to distilled. (And, if the humidity
is so high as to require its use, there's be minimal
evaporation going on, anyway.)

-Snail

John & Susan Balentine on tue 31 jul 01


I use my water to give my plants a drink. You would have to make sure that you
wash that holding container real good before using the water for glazes. Susan

Nikki Simmons wrote:

> Okay, I know I am not supposed to drink the water from my dehumidifier. So
> I was thinking I might use it in my glazes instead of distilled water. I
> found one post in the archives about dehumidifier water being used in
> glazes. Does anyone else do this? Is there a reason not to do this?
>
> Sincerely,
> Nikki Simmons
> nsimmons@mid-mo.net
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.

Earl Brunner on tue 31 jul 01


LOL! you got me on that one Snail, I had forgotten that some people
might actually live in an area where they REMOVE moisture from the air.
What a strange concept! My desert brain read DE-humidifier as
Humidifier! (HUMIDITY HERE IS CURRENTLY 16%) Oh well.


> Earl Brunner wrote:
>
>> By dehumidifier water you mean the water left in a dehumidifier that is
>> removed at some point after a lot of water has evaporated? In this case
>> it would depend a lot on the source water....
>
>
>
> Sounds like you mean 'humidifier', Earl. (We don't
> see a lot of de-humidifiers out our way, Nikki!
> I'm guessing you live in one of those damp places.)
>
> Seems to me that if these 'de-humidifiers' that
> Nikki was referring to are designed to remove water
> vapor from the air, the 'source water' would be
> atmospheric humidity, and the resulting water would
> be pretty close to distilled.

--
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec/
bruec@anv.net

Janet Kaiser on tue 31 jul 01


No, that is not it Earl. The water collected in a
dehumidifier has been taken out of the atmosphere and
there is no other water source involved. A dehumidifier
works on the same principle as a refrigerator by cycles
of freezing, melting and discharging the resultant
water into a container. In fact, it is exactly the same
type of water as the white frost which builds up in
fridges and freezers.

We collect an average gallon (British) per day in this
way at The CoA! Not only has it reduced the humidity
levels (bad for paintings, etc.) but reduced the
heating costs, because dry air heats up faster.

In many ways it is equivalent to distilled water, and
as long as the air being circulated is clean, there
will be no nasties in it. However, I should imagine
high air pollution could add chemicals to the water,
therefore adding an unknown element to the glaze.
Whether such unknown elements would be in such high
quantities to actually affect the glaze is debatable.
In the bad old days, it would probably contain high
levels of lead and who knows what is floating around in
our air these days?

One word of warning: do not use a dehumidifier too near
pots. It tends to suck out the surface water and leads
to problems. Firing can become a difficulty unless you
are well aware of this.

Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk

----- Original Message -----

> By dehumidifier water you mean the water left in a
dehumidifier that is
> removed at some point after a lot of water has
evaporated? In this case
> it would depend a lot on the source water. What ever
soluble minerals
> are in the source water will be there only in much
greater
> concentration. This may or may not have serious
consequences on your
> glazes depending on what the minerals are and in what
concentration.

Ababi on wed 1 aug 01


I rewrite an earlier letter. this is about the need to work with fresh
water!
My studio is in the old part of Kibbutz Shoval.
It is in the former showers. Public showers. (When people, did not have
toilets in their rooms) We had only a faucet outside the room for
washing teeth and filling the electric coffee /tea pitcher, until 1970
more or less.

Things are different now, and the old showers are used as a ceramic
studio. But the old pipes still there and the all the people who live
or work in that area suffers from bad situation of the water pipes
. About every month or two there is a hole, they must dig in the
soil and change a part of the old iron pipe.

THAN the water mixed with a lot of rust looks like RIO stained water.

Sometime I wonder,scared what happen if they will replace the old pipes
into new, modern plastic pipes,will my glazes still be as beautiful as
they are?
Ababi Sharon
Kibbutz Shoval- Israel
officially Glaze addict
ababisha@shoval.ardom.co.il
http://members4.clubphoto.com/ababi306910/
http://www.milkywayceramics.com/cgallery/asharon.htm
http://www.israelceramics.org/




---------- Original Message ----------

>I do this routinely. Works well for me, and I would think it is a
>reasonably good mimic for distilled. On the other hand, maybe the
>minerals in tap water contribute in some interesting but subtle way
>to the glaze.

>Earl - I think you are confusing this with a humidifier.

>Ian


>>Okay, I know I am not supposed to drink the water from my
>dehumidifier. So
>>I was thinking I might use it in my glazes instead of distilled
water.
> I
>>found one post in the archives about dehumidifier water being used in
>>glazes. Does anyone else do this? Is there a reason not to do this?
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>Nikki Simmons
>>nsimmons@mid-mo.net
>>
>>______________________________________________________________________
_
>_______
>>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>>
>>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>>
>>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>>melpots@pclink.com.

>_______________________________________________________________________
_
>______
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.

Pat Watkins on wed 1 aug 01


Nikki,

I am located right out of New Orleans. We have more than enough humidity to
go around. I have to use a dehumidifier in my studio or nothing would dry.
On days that our humidity runs over 80 percent, the humidity in my studio is
kept between 30-40 percent. I have been using a dehumidifier for about 10
years. I have asked many water distillers about just how pure is the water I
distill. Usually they are rather reluctant to give away any trade secrets at
first until I assure them that I would never stop buying their water. This
is what I have been told. They are several ifs... If the air where the
dehumidifier is clean. If the collection container and the coils on the
dehumidifier are kept clean. Then if the storage container for your excess
water is covered and does not get contaminated. Then you are pretty much
getting the same as distilled water. It certainly compares with some of the
"distilled like" waters that you get from some of the chain grocers. What I
do for my particular circumstances are this. I keep my studio as clean as
possible. I store my excess water in a clean and covered 10 gallon
container. I wash the collection container each time I empty it. I use a
"clean" container to dip out what I need and use that container for nothing
else. When I mix a batch of glaze I use half purchased water and half my
distilled water. Because of the high sulfur content in our tap water I also
use my distilled water for all throwing and other water that I need in the
studio. I also use the same vendor on purchased distilled water and never
buy any "distilled like" water. After I jump through all of those hoops I
pretty much feel that any contamination I might get at this point should be
minor. But you have to work out a process for your own studio circumstances.
Hope this helps.

Pat Watkins
patsraku@cs.com

Wade Blocker on wed 1 aug 01


Ian,
The water from a dehumidifier is not a substitute for distilled water.
The water is extracted from the air or atmosphere and you cannot be sure
what it contains. Mia in ABQ

Maggie Woodhead on thu 2 aug 01


Kia Ora,
I have been using dehumidifier water for all my glazes for some
years simply because it is there and it is pure. The water here is beautiful,
but there may be minerals in it which while safe for drinking might affect some
glazes. Any way it is free and has not been a problem.
----Best Wishes Maggie----Recovering from a sprained knee!
maggiew@clear.net.nz


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logan oplinger on thu 2 aug 01


Hi Again All,

'Been out chasing dead dinos for the last three weeks in Montana @ Fort =
Peck. Missed all of the discussions.

In my beginning college chem classes we did not have the use of a still =
or de-ioniser to make water for our experiments. Dr. Ewing had us colle=
ct condensate water from the air conditioners. Other than having to fil=
ter out drowned ants & other bugs, it worked fine, for beginning chem. =
On a tropical island we have high humidity, and a small amount of sea sa=
lt in the air.


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