Monday, November 29 1999
Q. I have always bought distilled water to use in my Moist-n-Aire humidifier. I have a basement de-humidifier from which I recycle its water into my garden. Is this de-humidifed water clean enough to use for my cigars? It does come from the air!
- Carl B. in Staten Island, NY
A. I would not recommend using the water from your basement dehumidifier. First of all, it's not filtered or purified, therefore it contains minerals and who knows what else it sucked out of the air.
So let me put it this way: unless you were entirely cut-off from your water supply, like during a disaster, for instance, and had no other choice, would you really want to drink the water from your dehumidifier tank? I bet you'd want to boil it first; and even then I wouldn't use it in my cigar humidor.
Distilled water normally sells for under a buck a gallon, so I suggest you keep your flowers and veggies happy with the dehumidified agua while your premium cigars continue to enjoy the better(and safer) use of pure, steam-distilled water.
