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.

When I lived in Texas I was able to collect or redirect some of this for my garden, but my system was as crude as it gets: I'd put a container under the drain or use a short section of old garden hose to water a flower bed about five feet away.

On a hot day when the AC was working really hard, water would come out at about the rate of a gallon per hour, if I recall correctly.

I try to keep up on water-saving trends, but I have never heard of anyone beside myself trying to set up a system to use AC runoff for irrigation. It seems to me that this could be a big help in some areas, not just for homes but for big office buildings, malls, etc.

Has anyone heard of anything like this being implemented? I can't possibly be the first one to think of the idea.