Water from AC runoff

[krw]

Right! Our first cat never drank the stuff and lived to 21. ;-)

[tangerine3]

That's a long life for a cat. 15 is generally the limit. I had one that lived to be 16.

[krw]

Fifteen is an easy age for an indoor cat to reach. My brother (a veterinarian) has seen a number of 30YO cats. Cars, dogs, and disease are what kill cats. Without those three, they can live a *long* time (as I said, we had one make it to 21).

[micky]

Legionairre's disease is inhaled, right? Any mold or whatever that one drinks will be acid-washed and killed by your digestive system.

Plus I doubt you'd have any mold in that water unless you have other mold in the basement where the AC is. When AC is running, it runs quite a bit and flushes itself.

The water is distilled water, with a little of whatever is in the air. The air that circulates though an AC is the same air everyone in the house, including the dogs, breath. If it doesn't harm your lungs, it surely won't harm your digestive track.

[micky]

But you admit that it died!!. Did you have it checked for air-conditioner-necrosis?

Just kidding.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Most homes do have mold. It may not be visible, it may not be growing, but it is there. Unless that Ac is running all the time, water sits in the pan for some length of time and collects dust and whatever blows over the coil. Dust, skin, dander, pollen, whatever.

Your nose helps filter the air as you breath. The drip pan is concentrating all that crap and steeping it in the water. How much, if any, it truly harms you is subject to what is there. In any case, I don't find it appealing at all.

If I was locked in a room with that AC for days, I'd drink it before the option of dying, but given a choice, I can think of many other higher rated places to fill my cup.

[Steve B]

An examination that could be done by any professional person armed with Petri dishes, swabs, et al, would reveal a very wide range of molds, bacteria and even disease. Bread molds when someone leaves the bag open for a short time. Mold is so common, it is unreal, but since it isn't visible, most people think they live in some bubble somewhere.

The nastiest place in anyone's house is the kitchen sink, followed by bathrooms. Buy a good UV flashlight, and have a look around in the dark. It's scary.

Steve

[HeyBub]

Go ahead an laugh! Recent research has shown that those who ate pickles before 1910 are, today, either dead or have white hair and no teeth.

In attempting to discover the relationship, scientists at Rutgers University force-fed five pounds of pickles to laboratory rats. Almost immediately, the test rats developed distended bellies and became lethargic (the already had white hair).

Further research is ongoing.